Jitendra Pradhan, last of 32 freedom fighters from Bargarh’s Panimora village, dies at 102

BHUBANESWAR: Jitendra Pradhan, the only surviving freedom fighter from Panimora in Odisha’s Bargarh district, died on Friday afternoon, ending an era of heroic tales associated with the otherwise little known village.
Pradhan was 102.
He was last of the 32 freedom fighters from Panimora, the highest produced by any Odisha village, who were all jailed for taking part in the Quit India Movement in 1942.
Pradhan wife’s Puranabati had died more than two decades ago. They had no children. He used to stay with his nephews.
“He had fever and had tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday,” said fellow villager Kulamani Dewan, whose grandfather, Dambarudhar, was also a freedom fighter.
Sujit Pruseth, an academic and author who has done extensive research on Panimora and written a book ‘Valour in the Veins’ on Panimora villagers’ fight against the British Raj, said the villagers had captured a British court in Sambalpur in 1942. “While one of the villagers, Chamru Parida, was declared judge, Jitendra, who died on Friday became an orderly in the court and others were assigned different other roles. The court had then asked the petitioners to take back their petitions and file them again addressing them to Mahatma Gandhi and not the British Raj. All of them were recaptured by the British forces and put behind the bars,” he added.
“It’s very interesting to know how and why from one small village — its current population is just 3,000 — so many people, often described as Gandhi’s barefoot soldiers, took part in the freedom movement,” said Tekchand Duan, secretary of the Western Odisha Freedom Fighters’ Memorial Committee.
Duan, a retired principal of Sohela College, said after India gained Independence, the freedom fighters dedicated themselves to drug de-addiction and prohibition besides popularisation of khadi. “Till recent years, Pradhan was active in de-addiction movements apart from his traditional healing practices,” he added.
Panimora in Sohela block, about 34km from the Bargarh district headquarters and 400km from the state capital Bhubaneswar, still carries the tradition left behind by its forefathers. Every Friday, a group of villagers undertake ‘Prabhat Pheri’ (early morning procession) singing patriotic songs. A Gandhi memorial at the village is a still a lively place holding discussions on patriotism and Gandhism.