The nondescript village of Julat in Bargarh district of Odisha and this year’s Nobel Peace prize winner Kailash Satyarthi have a close link.
Satyarthi’s son Bhuban married a girl of this village, Priyanka, the only daughter of Ananta Barik of Julat who is a Delhi-based engineer. After the news of Satyarthi becoming a Nobel laureate got aired, the joy of the village and the Barik family in particular knew no bounds.
Priyanka was working in the Global March Organisation founded by Satyarthi when she came in contact with Bhuban and finally they tied the knot. Bhuban is the head of the Bachpan Bachao Andolan.While the headquarters of Kailash Satyarthi’s Global March Organisation is located in the Republic of Czech, it has one of its branches in Delhi.
“Satyarthi visited Odisha many a time and addressed public to safeguard the interest of the children and their rights. Hence, he has got close links in Odisha,” Ananta Barik, said. “And the marriage of his son with my daughter reinforced the relationship further,” he added.Barik demanded that the Government of India honour Satyarthi with a Padma award.
The Barik family apart, common people of Bargarh also distributed sweets when they came to know about Satyarthi winning the Nobel prize.