Unforgettable Biju Patnaik

Cheeniya · Nov 20, 2021

A forward, nonetheless proud to read about a great person.

Biju Patnaik is the only person in India whose body was wrapped in national flag of 3 countries. India, Russia & Indonesia

He was former CM of Odisha for 2 terms

He was a pilot & when the soviet union was in trouble during World War II, he bombed Hitler's forces by flying a fighter aircraft Dakota, which forced Hitler to retreat

Highest award was given to him & he was granted honorary citizenship by SN

When the Kavalis attacked Kashmir, it was Biju Patnaik who made several trips a day from Delhi to Srinagar on 27th Oct 1947 by flying a plane & transporting the soldiers

Indonesia was once a colony of Dutch ie Holland & the Dutch occupied large area of Indonesia. Dutch soldiers kept whole sea around Indonesia under their control and they did not let any Indonesian citizen out

Indonesia was freed from Dutch in 1945 and again in July 1947 PM Sutan Sjahrir was house arrested by the Dutch

They sought India's help. Nehru asked Biju Patnaik to rescue the then Indonesian PM Sjahrir to India

On 22nd July 1947, Biju Patnaik and his wife took a Dakota plane without caring for her life, while flying over the control area of the Dutch, they landed on their soil and showing great bravery brought the Indonesian Prime Minister to India safely via Singapore

The incident developed a tremendous energy in them and they attacked the Dutch soldiers and Indonesia became a completely independent country.

Later, when the daughter of Indonesian President Sukarno was born, he called Biju Patnaik and his wife to name the newcomer. Then Biju Patnaik and his wife named the daughter of the President of Indonesia as Meghawati. Indonesia had granted honorary citizenship award 'Bhumi Putra' of their country to Biju Patnaik and his wife in 1950. Later he was awarded the highest honorary award of Indonesia 'Bintang Jasa Utma' on their 50th year of independence.

After the death of Biju Patnaik, seven days of state mourning was observed in Indonesia and one day state mourning was observed in Russia and all flags were lowered.

I felt a sense of pride when I came to know about such a great person of our country which our history books never told us.

shyamala1234 · Nov 21, 2021

Thank you Cheeniya sir.
Never knew so much about Biju Patnaik. I am sharing this with many friends.
Syamala

Rihana · Nov 24, 2021

Same here. I didn't know this history of Biju Patnaik.

More from Biju Patnaik - Wikipedia

Biju Patnaik was born on 5 March 1916 in Cuttack to Lakshminarayan and Ashalata Patnaik.[1] His parents lived in Bellaguntha, Ganjam district, around 80 km from Bramhapur. He was educated at Ravenshaw College in Odisha but, due to his interest in aviation, dropped out and trained as a pilot. Patnaik flew with private airlines but at the start of the Second World War he joined the Royal Indian Air Force. He eventually became the head of air transport command. While in service, he developed an interest in nationalist politics and used air force transports to deliver what was seen as subversive literature to Indian troops. He was jailed by the British for dropping political leaflets to Indian soldiers fighting under British command in Burma and flying clandestine missions that carried Congress Party leaders from hideouts across India to secret meetings that charted the independence struggle.