Dhenkanal: Recollecting the supreme sacrifice of Martyr Baji Raut who laid down his life to the bullets of British soldiers on the banks of River Brahmani at Nilakanthapur in the district, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday paid glowing tributes to the brave son of the soil.
Addressing a virtual meet organised by Baji Raut Smriti Parishad of Dhenkanal, Pradhan said he was grateful to the Parishad which has been remembering the greatest sacrifice of the 12-year-old martyr from Dhenkanal who had refused to ferry British policemen across river Brahmani.
“The pure waters of the river at Nilakanthapur turned red after Baji Raut shed his life to bullets of the British. Poet Sachhi Rautray had offered his greatest tribute to the youngest freedom fighter from Dhenkanal and made him immortal with his poem after Baji Rautroy,” Pradhan said while reciting a couplet from the poem.
Odisha is a land of supreme sacrifices and Baji Raut was a glaring example of it. He had died bravely on October 11, 1938 when he declined to obey the orders of two British policemen, he said.
Freedom fighters like Hrushi Pradhan, Laxman Mallik and Bhagu Sahu had laid their lives for the sake of the Mother Land and youth of modern Odisha should emulate such examples, Pradhan said and thanked the Smriti Parishad organisers for remembering the martyrs of the soil.
