Biju Patnaik

Bijayananda Patnaik (5 March 1916 – 17 April 1997) was an Indian politician, aviator and businessman.

In 1946 Patnaik was elected uncontested to the Odisha Legislative Assembly from North Cuttack constituency.

When the Dutch attempted to quell Indonesian independence on 21 July 1947, President Sukarno ordered Sjahrir, the former prime minister of Indonesia, to leave the country to attend the first Inter-Asia Conference, organised by Nehru, in July 1947 and to foment international public opinion against the Dutch.

Sjahrir was unable to leave as the Dutch controlled the Indonesian sea and air routes.

Nehru asked Patnaik, who was adventurous and an expert pilot, to rescue Sjahrir and other Indonesian resistance fighters who were fighting their Dutch colonisers.

Patnaik and his wife Gyanwati, flew to Java, dodging the Dutch guns, he entered Indonesian airspace and landed on an improvised airstrip near Jakarta.

Using left-over fuel from abandoned Japanese military dumps, Patnaik took off with prominent rebels, including Sultan Sjahrir and Achmad Sukarno, for a secret meeting with Nehru at New Delhi and brought out on a Douglas C-47 (Dakota) military aircraft reaching India via Singapore on 24 July 1947.

For this act of bravery, Patnaik was given honorary citizenship in Indonesia and awarded the 'Bhoomi Putra', the highest Indonesian award, rarely granted to a foreigner.

Patnaik flew many sorties on his Dakota DC-3 from Delhi Safdarjung Airport on 27 October 1947, after the first Dakota DC-3 (Reg. No: VP 905) flown by Wg.

Cdr.

KL Bhatia landed in Srinagar Airport early morning.

He brought 17 soldiers of 1-Sikh regiment commanded by Lt. Col. Dewan Ranjit Rai.

He flew low on the airstrip twice to ensure that no raiders were around.

Instructions from Prime Minister Nehru's office were clear: If the airport was taken over by the enemy, he was not to land.

Taking a full circle the DC-3 flew ground level.

Anxious eyeballs peered from inside the aircraft – only to find the airstrip empty.

Nary a soul was in sight.

The raiders were busy distributing the spoils of war amongst them in Baramulla.

Patnaik's political ideals were centered in socialism and federalism.

His strong advocacy for equal resources to all Indian states who needed such, made him a champion of his Odia constituents.

In 1952 and 1957 he won from Jagannathprasad and Surada, respectively.

In 1960 he assumed the presidency of the state Congress.

Under his leadership, the Congress Party won 82 of 140 seats and Patnaik (representing Chowdwar constituency) became the chief minister of Odisha on 23 June 1961 and remained in the position until 2 October 1963 when he resigned from the post under the Kamaraj Plan to revitalise the Congress party.

He was also the 14th Steel and mines and 1st Coal Union Minister of India from 1979 to 1980 and from 1977 to 1979 and a member of Lok Sabha from Kendrapara from 1977 to 1985.

He was the father of Naveen Patnaik, who is the current CM of Odisha and currently the longest serving CM of Odisha.

His parents lived in Ghumusar Nuagam, Bellaguntha, Ganjam district, around 80 km from Bramhapur.

He was educated at Ravenshaw College in Odisha but, due to his interest in aviation, dropped out and trained as a pilot.

Patnaik flew with private airlines but at the start of the Second World War he joined the Royal Indian Air Force.

He eventually became the head of air transport command.

While in service, he developed an interest in nationalist politics and used air force transports to deliver what was seen as subversive literature to Indian troops.

He was jailed by the British for dropping political leaflets to Indian soldiers fighting under British command in Burma and flying clandestine missions that carried Congress Party leaders from hideouts across India to secret meetings that charted the independence struggle.

However Patnaik remained committed to fighting the Axis Powers.

Patnaik met with Jawaharlal Nehru during his participation in Indonesian freedom struggle and became one of his trusted friends.

Nehru viewed the freedom struggle of the Indonesian people as parallel to that of India, and viewed Indonesia as a potential ally.

He served as the 3rd Chief Minister of the State of Odisha from 1990 to 1995 and from 1961 to 1963.

In 1995, when Indonesia was celebrating its 50th Independence Day, Biju Patnaik was awarded the highest national award, the Bintang Jasa Utama.

She, whose full name is Diah Permata Megawati Setiawati Sukarnoputri, later became Indonesia's first female president, serving from 2001 to 2004.

In 2021, the Indonesian Embassy in New Delhi designated a room in the name of Patnaik.

On the walls of the Patnaik room are photographs, newspaper clippings and letters that document Mr. Patnaik's secret assignments to fly out Indonesian leaders, as well as his relations with the Indonesian leadership.

In 2015, Sukarno's daughter Megawati Sukarnoputri recounted how it was Patnaik who suggested she be named Meghavati or "daughter of clouds".