Bhubaneswar,November 18 (Odisha.in) Statue of eminent freedom fighter, social activist, peasant leader Raghunath Patnaik was unvailed in the premises of Raghunath Adarsha Mahabidyalaya at Olasingh in Khurda district located at a distance of 60 kms from Bhubaneswar.
Patnaik who had joined freedom movement while a student of Ravenshaw College, Cuttack and participated in Quit India movement was an ardent disciple of Gandhiji.
He was jailed for participating in freedom movement. Later he joined the Communist Party of India and was one of the 27 founder members of the Orissa unit of CPI, which was formed under the leadership of Bhagabati Charan Panigrahi.
Patnaik had participated in Gadajat andolan in Ranpur and Dhenkanal and lead the peasant movement in Khurda, Banpur and other places.
Though a Gandhian by practice he was an ardent believer of Marxism and was devoting most of his time for the upliftment of the downtrodden . He was responsible for many developmental work in his area.
The statue was unveiled by Sanjay Das Burma , Chairman Orissa State Housing Board, Prof. Sashanka Sekhar Chudamani, Edior : ” Viswa Mukti ” was the guest of honour.
Prasanta Patnaik, eldest son of the freedom fighter and president of the Governing Body of Raghunath Adarsha Mahabidyalays presided over the ceremony.
Dr. Prasanna Kumar Patsani, Lok sabha member from Bhubaneswar, who was closely associated with late Patnaik, and was very much influenced by his ideology in a message paid high tribute to Patnaik and appealed the people to follow his foot steps and true patriotic spirit and fighting against corruption, poverty and social evils.
He said, Patnaik who was not only a socio-political activist was also a good writer, who is well known through out the State for his bold writings in newspapers.
He said his book ” Agami Swadhinata Sangram Ra Sahaj Sutra ” bears testimony of his Marxist-Gandhian philosophy.
Dr. Patsani said that he would do his best for the memory of this great freedom fighter and would take all steps to translate his dream into reality for all round development of the area as far as agriculture, health, education, housing and hand loom industries are concerned.
Later a bust statue of Patnaik was also unveiled at the weavers’ colony of Olasingh, which has been named after him as ” Raghunath Patana” acknowledging his contributions for revival of the Olasingh Tassar Weavers’ Co-operative Society Ltd., and bringing the craftsmanship of the members of the society into lime light.
Odisha.in