BALANGIR/ SAMBALPUR/ ATHAGARH: People from all walks of life paid tribute to the legendary freedom fighter Veer Surendra Sai across the region on his 210th birth anniversary on Tuesday. People paid floral tribute to his statue at Jail Chowk in Samabalpur city. His statue was also garlanded at his native village Khinda in Rengali block of the district. Sai is known for having incarcerated the maximum number of years in jail as political prisoner in the world.
His role in shaping the cause of the Revolution of 1857 and 1858 in the hilly tracts of Western Odisha was highly inspiring. The district administration and the Odisha Sanskrutik Samaj, a city-based socio-cultural organisation, organised a joint meeting in the evening to mark the anniversaries of both Sai and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Locals in Burla took out a torch rally at Burla to commemorate the occasion. Similar celebration was observed at Athagarh.
Members of Athagarh Bikash Parishad observed the birth anniversary of Netaji and Sai by organising an awareness rally. Meanwhile, hundreds of girl students of the Government Girls High School in Kantabanji took an oath to not get married before attaining the age of 18 years in Balangir to observe the birthdays of the legends. While CWC Chairperson S Mishra attended the event as its Chief Guest, educationist Ramachandra Sahu was the chief speaker.