BHUBANESWAR:Kanika king Shivendra Narayan Bhanja Deo on Saturday opposed the move of Saheed Smaraki Swadhinata Sangram Sadan Trust to include names of two peasants from his region in the list of freedom fighters.
"The two peasants from Kanika in Kendrapara - Basu and Bisuni - whose soil is being lifted for the freedom fighters' martyr memorial in Bhubaneswar had no role in India's freedom struggle and both of them had died in a police firing during a farmers' agitation against the heavy tax imposed by the then King of Kanika Rajendra Narayan Bhanja Deo during 1921-22," Bhanja Deo said while seeking intervention of the State Government to ensure due recognition for freedom fighters.
"It is absolutely fine if somebody who has died is being honoured. However, you can't portray them in a different form like freedom fighter," he said.Bhanja Deo further said the record of Odisha Government on non-cooperation movement in Kanika has also no mention about the two peasants as freedom fighters. "The High Court Order of the time, as written in the Odisha review, describes Kanika agitation as a only peasant's agitation," he pointed out.
Notably, the freedom fighters' trust is collecting soil from the birth place of all freedom fighter martyr from Odisha which will be kept at the memorial at Sangrami Bhawan here on August 9. The event will be attended by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. The trust officials couldn't be reached for their comments on the issue.