Biju Patnaik

• The birth anniversary of Biju Patnaik was celebrated (5th March). He is remembered as a freedom fighter, an Indian politician, an aviator and a businessman.

Key Points

• Brief Profile:
• Bijayananda Patnaik was born on 5th March 1916, he is popularly known as Biju
• He was an ace pilot and joined the Royal Indian Air Force in
• He was the two times Chief Minister of

Role in Freedom Struggle:

• Biju Patnaik started his career as a freedom fighter in He joined the Quit India Movement under the guidance of Mahatma Gandhi to make India free.
  • He became a prominent leader of Congress and was engaged in the Quit India Movement with Jay Prakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia.

• In 1943, he underwent imprisonment for about two years for his participation in the Quit India  movement.

• He fearlessly undertook covert missions, ferrying freedom fighters to secret meetings with their supporters, and even airdropped leaflets in support of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s Indian National
• He played a major role in World War II and the Kashmir War of 1948 as a pilot in the Indian Air Force.

Role in Kashmir Integration:

• Biju Patnaik had fearlessly flown a DC-3 transport aircraft to Srinagar on 27th October 1947, ferrying soldiers of the Sikh regiment after the tribal invasion from Pakistan in

Role in Indonesian Freedom Struggle:

• On the request of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Biju Patnaik flew to Java and brought Sultan Sjahrir out of Dutch controlled territory in Indonesia for a meeting in
  • For this act of bravery, he was given honorary citizenship in Indonesia and awarded the ‘Bhoomi Putra’, the highest Indonesian award, rarely granted to a
  • In 1996, the Biju Patnaik was awarded the highest Indonesian national award, the ‘Bintang Jasa Utma’.