01-26-2008, 11:30 PM
[center]<b>Heroics of 4 Bari youths forgotten on Republic Day</b>[/center]
26 Jan 2008, PTI
JAJPUR (ORISSA): As the country remembers sacrifices of freedom fighters on the occasion of Republic day on Saturday, the heroics of four youths from Bari block in Jajpur district of Orissa remains mostly unnoticed.
<b>Saunti Mallik of Srirampur, Sananda Swain and Hadibandhu Panda of Krushna Nagar and Mayadhar Bhuyan of Hatasahi under Bari block had valiantly fought the Britishers and fell to bullets in the 1942 'Quit India' struggle.</b>
Terming them as 'unsung heroes', 84-year old Gandhian leader Bhikari Mohanty of Serapur village recalled how on a rain-swept Rakhi Purnima day on August 26, 1942, the British police had launched a manhunt in Kalamatia and Kaipara villages to arrest them on charges of setting the local post office on fire.
As the message spread in the area, the youths gheraoed the armed policemen and fought a pitched battle.
"Mayadhar valiantly fought against the armed police but fell to the bullets. I have seen the killing", Mohanty claims.
Influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, over 100 youths from Bari area, work place of Sarvodaya leaders Gopabandhu Choudhury and Rama Devi, had plunged into the freedom movement and were imprisoned by the British.
Nineteen people from Krushna Nagar of Bari, famous as 'Sangrami' village, had joined the freedom movement and undergone jail terms. Two of them still alive are Mohanty and Surendra Sukla.
Though a statue in memory of the martyrs was built by the villagers, many people in the district hardly know their heroics against the Britishers, local historians lament.
26 Jan 2008, PTI
JAJPUR (ORISSA): As the country remembers sacrifices of freedom fighters on the occasion of Republic day on Saturday, the heroics of four youths from Bari block in Jajpur district of Orissa remains mostly unnoticed.
<b>Saunti Mallik of Srirampur, Sananda Swain and Hadibandhu Panda of Krushna Nagar and Mayadhar Bhuyan of Hatasahi under Bari block had valiantly fought the Britishers and fell to bullets in the 1942 'Quit India' struggle.</b>
Terming them as 'unsung heroes', 84-year old Gandhian leader Bhikari Mohanty of Serapur village recalled how on a rain-swept Rakhi Purnima day on August 26, 1942, the British police had launched a manhunt in Kalamatia and Kaipara villages to arrest them on charges of setting the local post office on fire.
As the message spread in the area, the youths gheraoed the armed policemen and fought a pitched battle.
"Mayadhar valiantly fought against the armed police but fell to the bullets. I have seen the killing", Mohanty claims.
Influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, over 100 youths from Bari area, work place of Sarvodaya leaders Gopabandhu Choudhury and Rama Devi, had plunged into the freedom movement and were imprisoned by the British.
Nineteen people from Krushna Nagar of Bari, famous as 'Sangrami' village, had joined the freedom movement and undergone jail terms. Two of them still alive are Mohanty and Surendra Sukla.
Though a statue in memory of the martyrs was built by the villagers, many people in the district hardly know their heroics against the Britishers, local historians lament.