Biju Patnaik

• 06 Mar 2021

Why in News

The birth anniversary of Biju Patnaik was celebrated (5^th March). He is remembered as a freedom fighter, an Indian politician, an aviator and a businessman.

Key Points

• Brief Profile:
  
  • Bijayananda Patnaik was born on 5^th March 1916, he is popularly known as Biju Patnaik.
  • He was an ace pilot and joined the Royal Indian Air Force in 1936.
  • He was the two times Chief Minister of Odisha.
• Role in Freedom Struggle:
  
  • Biju Patnaik started his career as a freedom fighter in 1942. He joined the Quit India Movement under the guidance of Mahatma Gandhi to make India free.
    
    • He became a prominent leader of Congress and was engaged in the Quit India Movement with Jay Prakash Narayan and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia.
    • In 1943, he underwent imprisonment for about two years for his participation in the Quit India Movement.
  • He fearlessly undertook covert missions, ferrying freedom fighters to secret meetings with their supporters, and even airdropped leaflets in support of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army.
  • He played a major role in World War II and the Kashmir War of 1948 as a pilot in the Indian Air Force.
• Role in Kashmir Integration:
  
  • Biju Patnaik had fearlessly flown a DC-3 transport aircraft to Srinagar on 27th October 1947, ferrying soldiers of the Sikh regiment after the tribal invasion from Pakistan in Kashmir.
• Role in Indonesian Freedom Struggle:
  
  • On the request of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Biju Patnaik flew to Java and brought Sultan Sjahrir out of Dutch controlled territory in Indonesia for a meeting in Delhi.
    
    • For this act of bravery, he was given honorary citizenship in Indonesia and awarded the ‘Bhoomi Putra’, the highest Indonesian award, rarely granted to a foreigner.
    • In 1996, the Biju Patnaik was awarded the highest Indonesian national award, the ‘Bintang Jasa Utma’.

Source: PIB