Ashis SenapatiKendrapada: Tributes were paid to freedom fighter and poet Ananda Jena on his 142nd birth anniversary at a commemorative meeting held in Kendrapada on Friday. People from different walks of life offered floral tributes by garlanding Jena’s statue and recalled his contribution to India’s freedom struggle.Addressing the gathering, former principal of Kendrapada Autonomous College, Prof. Nanda Kishor Parida, highlighted Jena’s role in resisting the oppressive rule of the Raja of Kanika during the British era. He said Jena’s contribution remained neglected for decades until locals took the initiative about 26 years ago to restore his legacy by installing his statue in Kendrapada town.Former principal of Tulasi Women’s College, Ajaya Kumar Samal, said the history of Odisha’s freedom movement would remain incomplete without mentioning the militant peasant uprising in Kanika against British rule and the king. He said Jena fought against the exploitation of the people, who were burdened with as many as 64 different taxes imposed by the Raja of Kanika.Samal said Jena was dismissed from his post in the Kendrapada local board for participating in the freedom movement and for writing the poem Dukhini Kanika (The Distressed Kanika), which exposed the economic exploitation and tyranny of the Raja. He noted that Jena spent three months with Mahatma Gandhi at the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad in 1917.Jena’s family members expressed concern that the younger generation was forgetting the sacrifices made by the freedom fighters. They urged the govt and social organisations to make greater efforts to educate youth about the lives and contributions of those who fought for the country’s independence.Among those present were district collector Raghuram R. Iyer, Kendrapada MLA Ganeswar Behera, chief district medical officer Dr Anita Patnaik, additional district judge Bishnudeb Jena, Kendrapada municipality chairperson Sarita Sahoo, senior advocate Bichitrananda Mohanty, and several other dignitaries.
