By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR/NEW DELHI: With Ruling BJD MLAs in Bhubaneswar, wear freedom fighter Jai Rajguru’s facemask in the State Assembly , Party MPs in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in New Delhi, on Monday, knocked the door, of Union Minister of State for Culture , Arjun Ram Meghwal seeking to declare PaikaBidroha as first war of Independence.
BJD MPs Pinaki Mishra, Dr Sasmit Patra, Dr Achyut Samanta, Prasanna Acharya, Ramesh Majhi, Sujit Kumar, Muna Khan , Dr Amar Patnaik and Chandrani Murmu met Union Minister Meghawal and sought his immediate intervention into the issue.
The BJD MPs in a memorandum stated that Paika Rebellion, of 1817 was India’s first organised armed rebellion against the British raj and it was 40 years before the 1957 sepoy mutiny. The legends of the heroic of Baxi Jagabandhu as well as the Valliant Paikas of Odisha, continues to inspire the 4. crore Odias since last 2 centuries.
In State Assembly in Bhubaneswar, BJD MLAs raised the demand for declaration of Paika Rebellion as the country’s first war of independence against the British Empire.
As December 6 (today) marks the death anniversary of Jayi Rajguru, who spearheaded Paika Rebellion in 1817, BJD MLAs wearing masks of the freedom fighter and holding placards got up from their seats and raised slogans slamming the Centre for its alleged negligence in according the said recognition.Unable to run the House, Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro adjourned the House till 4 pm today.
