Today is 84th birth anniversary of Harish Chandra Buxipatra, a leader who fought tooth and nail for territorial integrity and cultural and linguistic pride of Odisha. He was also a former Minister and a former resident of the Utkal Sammilani.
Buxipatra was born on November 17, 1933 and his father was Gopinath Buxipatra and mother, Sashirekha. He took his higher studies firstly at the Paralakhemundi College, then at the Ravenshaw College and later, at the Madhusudan law College, Cuttack.
When he was in the Ravenshaw College, he was elected as the president of students union. In 1956, he took the leadership of the student movement for the Odia people of Sadheikala and Kharasua which is now in the State of Jharkhand.
He joined the CPI in 1959 during his student career and was head of AISF of the State. Then he joined the Utkal Congress in 1973 . He took active part in the JP movement. He was elected MlA in the 10th legislative Assembly from March 3, 1990 to March 15, 1995 from Koraput. He was also a Minister in the Ministry of the Chief Minister Biju Patnaik . He was a popular leader in our State.
He was known for his literary activities as well. He wrote many articles in various magazines and edited his fortnightly newspaper "lokaniti" . He was also the All India vice-president and State secretary of Indo-Soviet Cultural Association and also the State secretary of The World Santi Sangha.
When he was working with the different social, cultural and political organisations, the president of the Utkal Sammilani was Dr Radhanath Rath. Buxipatra took over as the president of Utkal Sammilani after the death of Dr Rath. In his period, the Jhadakhand State was newly formed. Buxipatra took it as an opportunity to demand for the merger the Odia speaking tracts in Odisha.
In the leadership of Buxipatra, a team from the Utkal Sammilani went to Delhi and met the Prime Minister, Home Ministers and other Ministers and Members of Parliaments. When he felt that the Center would not co-operate in the matter, he returned Odisha and united all political parties and held an Odisha Bandh on August 11, 2000. But, he could not live long to take the campaign forward. He died on October 27, 2000.
Today Andhra Pradesh wants to take away our Kotia panchayat of Koraput district and also built the Polavoram project to our detriment, while West Bengal has been demanding the villages like Sankhamedi, Sahabajipur bus stand and Udayapur sea shore of Baleswar district. Similarly, Chhattisgarh wants to have a lion’s share of water of the Mahanadi river. We need leaders like Buxipatra at this critical juncture to protect out geographical and cultural identity.
(Dashsharma is president, Utkal Sammilani, Mancheswar Industrial Estate Branch, M-993853600)