Odisha’s Last Gandhian No More

Khariar Road: Freedom fighter and Gandhian Raojibhai Rathore died at his residence at Khariar Road on Wednesday. He was 99.

He was  not exactly the typecast kind of a freedom fighter, though like many of his ilk he remained virtually unsung.

The nonagenarian of Nuapada district silently watched the world go by and very few locals were aware of the patriotic fervour that  burnt in his heart till his last days.

I had met him in the twilight of his life, but Raojibhai has not lost his love for the country, and continued as a social activist. Raojibhai told me that he first met the Mahatma when he was only 13 years old.

His childhood was spent in Khariar, where his father was employed by the Raja for building and civil works. Raojibhai recollected how he and his childhood friend Anup Singh Deo, who later ascended the throne, used to play cricket and football in the palace grounds. The young prince was sent away to Rajkumar College at Raipur for proper grooming. Raoji too went to Raipur, but he studied in the high school there.

It was in Raipur that Raoji first met the Mahatma in November 1933. Gandhiji was staying in the house of Pandit Ravi Shankar Shukla at Budhapara.

On November 26 when people were contributing money for the cause of freedom struggle, Raoji pulled out an ‘anna paisa’ from his pocket and stretched out his hand to Gandhiji as a contribution. The Mahatma noticed the young boy and took the coin from his outstretched hand. The Mahatma then returned the coin to him, asking him to keep it, Raoji told the author. Raoji showed me the coin that he kept safely with him.

Five years later he went to Gandhiji’s Ashram at Wardha and spent a few days there, but conditions at home forced him to return. From 1938-42, Raoji gave up the Gandhian principles and was active in underground freedom activities.

“Though I vandalised government property and took part in violent political activities, I could always escape the prison walls,” he had told me.

On December 22, 1942, Raojibhai, along with his friend Jadu Raut climbed up the roof of the newly set up Civil Court at Nawapara and removed the Union Jack, replacing it with the Congress Tricolour.

A big crowd gathered, and they were asked to come down by the policemen. However they remained atop the roof, raising slogans of Vande Mataram, Bharat Mata Ki Jai, Inquilab Zindabad and Mahatma Gandhi Zindabad.

Vividly recalling the incident, Raoji said he along with his friends had walked 10 km from Khariar Road to Court Complex at Nawapara. The Quit India call given by Gandhiji had enthused them, and the dozen frenzied sons of the motherland decided to do their bit.

The British officer posted there was summoned from the nearby coronation hall. He arrived and asked the policemen to open fire. There were only three sepoys deployed at the court and had no guns. They were ordered up the roof, but Raoiji and Jadu managed to push them back after each attempt, the crowds below cheered.

The officer summoned more force from the police lines, and soon armed sepoys arrived. The angry officer asked them to open fire, but the sympathetic policemen only fired in the air. At the insistence of the crowd, both the young men jumped down from the rear of the building and ran towards the fields with the police in hot pursuit.

They remained hidden in the fields till sunset, and even when one of the policeman chanced upon them, he did not give them away. They returned to Khariar Road the next morning, but their audacity and outrageous act drew the attention of the authorities and they had to remain in hiding for weeks.

After Independence, he was not granted the freedom fighter’s pension as he was never jailed. “I never tried for it” he said, however he helped many freedom fighters get their due.

Reminiscing about those days of the freedom struggle, he had said: “A lot of sacrifices have gone into the gaining of our country’s independence and this must be always remembered. In our time, we had the pictures of freedom fighters in our rooms, now you only find posters of film stars and cricketers.

I had gone looking for the Court House where Raoji raised the flag, after making inquiries I could locate the building. The flagpole was still in place. The signage on the building had been painted over, however I could read the inscribed words “Court Building- Nawapara- 1942” which had been whitewashed over and over again.

However, like Raojibahi’s memories, the words had not been erased till date.

The district collector has been requested to ensure that the sign is restored, and a board put up which tells of the significance of the small building.