Bhubaneswar: In a move to preserve the legacy of unsung heroes of India’s freedom struggle, the Sonepur administration has decided to dedicate one classroom in every government school in the district to Gurubari Meher, a valiant woman freedom fighter from western Odisha.
According to an official letter issued by District Education Officer Minarani Mangal, all principals, headmasters and headmistresses have been instructed to identify a well-maintained classroom in their respective schools and name those as “Gurubari Meher Kakshya”.
The class
room will continue to be used for regular academic activities and must be kept neat and clean, it added.
Gurubari Meher, often hailed as the “soldier of western Odisha,” played a pivotal role in the Praja Mandal Movement, which challenged the autocratic rule in princely states during the final phase of India’s independence struggle. Historical accounts describe her as a bold leader who mobilised thousands against oppressive feudal practices and pro-British rulers.
On January 28, 1947, just months before India’s independence, Meher led a massive protest of nearly 20,000 people in Binika (then part of the Sonepur princely state) against the pro-British ruler of the princely state of Sonepur and was shot dead by police during the ensuing baton charge and gunfire. Though Meher’s sacrifice is commemorated annually as Shahid Diwas on January 30 in Binka by the Gurubari Meher Memorial Committee, her legacy has remained profoundly underrecognised.