Do we take our independence for granted, or have we gotten too busy to remember the sacrifices of the lion-hearted leaders who laid down their lives for our country? Dhrutikam Mohanty ventures into two such forgotten villages…
It’s been 62 years since independence, but their struggle is
far from over. Chaitanya Sahoo (87) and Dayanidhi Naik (84) of Panimora village (Bargarh district, Orissa), participants in the Quit India Movement, are on a hunger strike in the run up to August 15 this year to draw attention to the need for a pucca road to Panimora. Back when it was a village of 33 houses, 32 persons had walked out to join Gandhiji in his peaceful quest for freedom. Today Panimora desperately waits for some proper roads to walk on.
When we decided to pay a visit to the village, we chose to heed to our friend’s suggestion to go on a two-wheeler instead of a four-wheeler, and were we thankful for the precious piece of advice! Traveling 40 kms from Baragarh (Bargarh district headquarters) on the national highway, we crossed Sohela (the last town of Orissa before you enter Chhattisgarh). Taking left from Sohela, we traveled another 10 kms – the longest in the journey – to reach Panimora, the land of freedom fighters.
We were greeted by a statue of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, right at the entrance. Adjacent to the statue stood a pillar with 32 names inscribed on it, the names of men and women fired up by Bapu’s call for freedom. It had all started with one person, poet Dibyakishor Sahoo. “He inspired us to fight for the country and fight for our independence and all of us joined the Quit India movement,” remember the freedom fighters of Panimora, now old and infirm, but with distinct memories of those difficult days.
What is unusual is not that the whole village responded to Gandhiji’s call, but that they continue to be influenced by his principles to date. Every day, after the morning puja in the village temple, all villagers are summoned by beating the ‘dibdibi’(a drum-like instrument), and there is held an all-community prayer, just like the way Gandhiji went about it. Khethrabasi, one of the villagers, recalls, “We have been following this routine every day without fail for over 60 years now… regularly since Gandhiji’s death in 1948.”
It’s been 62 years since independence, but their struggle is
far from over. Chaitanya Sahoo (87) and Dayanidhi Naik (84) of Panimora village (Bargarh district, Orissa), participants in the Quit India Movement, are on a hunger strike in the run up to August 15 this year to draw attention to the need for a pucca road to Panimora. Back when it was a village of 33 houses, 32 persons had walked out to join Gandhiji in his peaceful quest for freedom. Today Panimora desperately waits for some proper roads to walk on.
When we decided to pay a visit to the village, we chose to heed to our friend’s suggestion to go on a two-wheeler instead of a four-wheeler, and were we thankful for the precious piece of advice! Traveling 40 kms from Baragarh (Bargarh district headquarters) on the national highway, we crossed Sohela (the last town of Orissa before you enter Chhattisgarh). Taking left from Sohela, we traveled another 10 kms – the longest in the journey – to reach Panimora, the land of freedom fighters.
We were greeted by a statue of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, right at the entrance. Adjacent to the statue stood a pillar with 32 names inscribed on it, the names of men and women fired up by Bapu’s call for freedom. It had all started with one person, poet Dibyakishor Sahoo. “He inspired us to fight for the country and fight for our independence and all of us joined the Quit India movement,” remember the freedom fighters of Panimora, now old and infirm, but with distinct memories of those difficult days.
What is unusual is not that the whole village responded to Gandhiji’s call, but that they continue to be influenced by his principles to date. Every day, after the morning puja in the village temple, all villagers are summoned by beating the ‘dibdibi’(a drum-like instrument), and there is held an all-community prayer, just like the way Gandhiji went about it. Khethrabasi, one of the villagers, recalls, “We have been following this routine every day without fail for over 60 years now… regularly since Gandhiji’s death in 1948.”
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