A day after the Biju Janata Dal parliamentary party demanded acknowledgement of the ‘Paika rebellion’ as the first war of Indian Independence struggle, the Odisha Assembly on Tuesday adopted a resolution urging the Centre to reconsider its decision on the recognition.
The Centre had refused to grant the ‘Paika rebellion’ the status of first war of Indian Independence.
Responding to a question in the Upper House of Parliament on December 2, Union Culture Minister G. Kishan Reddy said, “The matter was examined in consultation with the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) under the Ministry of Education. As per the comments received from the ICHR, Paika rebellion cannot be called the First War of Independence,” he said, adding that it had been decided to include it as a ‘case-study’ in the Class 8 history textbook of NCERT, which deals with the 1857 event.
“The 1817 Paika Bidroh is a glorious chapter in Indian history. It helped accelerate subsequent long and organised freedom struggle,” reads the resolution passed by the Odisha Assembly on Tuesday. According to the resolution, the State Government has identified nine acres of land in Khordha district for building a memorial on the ‘Paika Bidroh’ and organised workshops and seminars for its publicity.
