Bhubaneswar, December 6: A delegation of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MPs on Monday met Union Minister of State (Culture), Arjun Ram Meghawal and urged him to immediately declare Paika Bidroha as the First War of Independence.
The delegation comprised of eight BJD Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs – Pinaki Misra, Sasmit Patra, Prasanna Acharya, Achyutaya Samanta, Amar Patnaik, Sujeet Kumar, Ramesh Chandra Majhi, Munna Khan and Chandrani Murmu.
“Paika Bidroha” also known as the Paika Rebellion took place in 1817, which was India’s first organized armed rebellion against the British raj. This was the First war of Independence for India which was 40 years before the revolt of1857, which was later termed as 1st War of Indian Independence against British Colonialism,” stated the memorandum.
This battle was fought under the leadership of Baxi Jagabandhu of Odisha. The legend of the heroics of Baxi Jagabandhu as well as the valiant Paikas of Odisha continues to inspire the 4.5 crore Odias since the last two centuries. It is time, that this struggle and sacrifice by a generation ofOdia people got its due place in the annals of history, it stated.
“The Paika Bidroha led the path in energizing and mobilizing the people of India and created strong resistance against the British raj, which ultimately led to the British having to leave India and India gaining its independence from foreign rule,” it further read.
On July 18, 2017 the Odisha Cabinet of Ministers led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, passed a resolution to declare Paika Bidroha as First War of Independence.
On July 19, 2017, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik wrote a letter to then Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh requesting to declare Paika Bidroha as the first war of Independence.
On July 20, 2017, Bicentenary Celebration of the heroic Paika Bidroha was held at New Delhi which was inaugurated by the then President Pranab Mukherjee in the presence of Chief Minister Patnaik.
