By D N Singh

This month and the days those we are through are ordinary ones in the annals of history.

Taking down the memory lane it has a reminder of great rises and falls as well.

Forty-seven years back, this month Jay Prakash Narayan has succeeded to create a milestone through India’s one most intensive political agitation and toppled regime.

Many went to the jails and many were thrown in. At the same time, agitation threw up a good number of young political activists and student leaders who rose to national politics.

Rising To Occasion Under Biju

Odisha never lagged behind and under the astute leadership of the legendary Biju Patnaik, the state took an all-out participation braving the odds then.

Biju Patnaik, along with his political colleagues from Odisha, led the inmates inside the jail helping to build up the enthusiasm for days and months.

Kick-started in 1974, the agitation grew stronger shaking the citadel at the top, 47 years back, in January the movement, more known as JP movement, bid an adieu to the regime under Indira Gandhi.

Biju then had a critical role and he, painstakingly playing a bag-piper role in Odisha and in the country.

Younger Rose & Older Fell

The agitation was able to pitch-fork student leaders from Odisha and Bihar higher up, later who could have a space in national politics.

For example, in Bihar, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Sushil Kumar Modi or Prem  Kumar stood out.

On target was none other than Indira Gandhi herself who could not withstand the headwinds despite her efforts to smother the spins of time with the left-leaning young Turks.

Coincidence: It was exactly 47 years back, i.e in January, it was the same Indira Gandhi who had the privilege of chairing the mega event of Vishwa Hindi Diwas at Nagpur as a motivator to spread the essence of Hindi as a language world over.

What a fabulous coincidence that, the same year and the same month, two contrasting events entered the calendar and pages of history, 47 years back with two different reasons.  

About the Author:

DN Singh is a Bhubaneswar-based senior journalist.

DISCLAIMER

This is the personal opinion of the author. The views expressed in this write up have nothing to do with the www.prameyanews.com