KENDRAPARA: When the entire country will sing paeans to the freedom fighters on the occasion of 71st Independence Day on Wednesday, family of martyr Basu Sethi in the district will be going about doing their daily grind to make ends meet.
Away from the spotlight, the kin of martyr Basu at Tentulikoil village in Rajkanika block are leading an impoverished life. With the Government ignoring the legacy of the martyr, they have taken up menial jobs to eke out a living.
Basu and another freedom fighter Bisuni Madhuala of Bartani village were gunned down by the British forces during a peasant revolt at Meghapur on April 23, 1922.
Kartik Sethi, one of the four grandchildren of Basu, is a daily wager. Another, Panchanana Sethi, runs a laundry shop while Badal Sethi and his wife work as farm labourers. The fourth one, Rabi Narayan Sethi, makes a living by washing clothes of villagers.
“The Independence Day has no meaning for me though my grandfather sacrificed his life during the freedom movement. We lead a miserable life and have no land of our own,” rued Badal, who lives in a rickety thatched house in Tentulikoli with his brothers and wife.
Apart from the apathy meted out to Basu’s family, the martyr’s birthplace has also been neglected. “Despite repeated appeals, both the State and Central governments are yet to develop the birthplace of our grandfather,” said Rabi.
As per historical records, around 2,000 peasants under the leadership of Basu and Bisuni had prevented the British forces and the army of Kanika King from entering the village to collect taxes. Angered by the resistance, the forces had opened fire at the peasants, killing both Basu and Bisuni near a pond at
Meghapur village, said noted researcher Dr Basudev Das of Kendrapara.
Basu and Bisuni were the first martyrs of the non-cooperation movement called by Mahatma Gandhi in the State. The duo laid down their lives fighting the Britishers in 1922, long before the Quit India movement, Das added.
“This place has not changed at all and remains as it was 71 years back. Before Independence, we were slaves of the Britishers and after the colonisers left, they placed us at the mercy of ministers and bureaucrats who are more interested in themselves,” said Panchanana.