KENDRAPARA: Nation is all set to observe 61st Republic Day on Tuesday and many will pay rich tributes to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives to free India from the shackles of British rule. But no one has spared a thought to 84-year-old Hadiani Mallick, widow of 1942 ‘Quit India’ martyr Sauti Mallick of village Srirampur, who is fighting a grim battle against poverty.
“Sauti, Sanada Swain and Hadibandhu Panda of Krushnanagar village and Mayadhar Bhuyan of Hatasahi laid down their lives while fighting the British police on August 22, 1942 in village Kalamatia during Quit India movement called by Mahatma Gandhi,” said Purosottam Nayak (93), former Congress MLA of Kendrapara and president of State Freedom Fighters’ Association.
But the authorities are yet to grant any financial help or freedom fighter’s pension to the octogenarian Hadiani. She is getting only Rs 200 as assistance from the government.
Hadiani was six months pregnant when her husband was shot dead by British police. Later she gave birth to a son and remarried the younger brother of Sauti. Her second husband and son died about 10 years back and now Hadiani is languishing in poverty.
“I cannot make both ends meet with such a paltry sum,” said Hadiani in a feeble voice.
‘’Being a widow of a martyr, I expect a little more respect from the authorities.
This certainly is not the country of our dreams. I call it injustice,” said Hadiani.
Hadiani is entitled to freedom fighter’s pension as her husband was martyred in 1942, said Usha Das, a lawyer of Kendrapara.
A large number of people of Kalamatia fought against the British during the freedom struggle. On August 22, 1942, about 200 villagers set the village post office at Kaipada afire and prevented the British police from entering the village to arrest the freedom fighters. But police managed to enter the village in six boats and opened fire and killed four persons, including Sauti, and injured many, said Dr Basudev Das, a researcher of Kendrapara.
To remember the sacrifice of the four persons, some villagers erected a martyrs’ obelisk (Sahid Stambha) at the spot in Kalamatia in 1975 where all the four were shot dead by the police. But the obelisk is a picture of neglect. The vicinity of the tower has virtually turned into a garbage dump.
The plaque below the tower has the names of all the four martyrs.
