ABVP launches Jagruti Yatra

Sundargarh (visakeo)-Keeping in tune with the nationwide celebration of 150 years of India's First War of Independence or the Sepoy Mutiny, 1857 and to keep the youths of this tribal-dominated district abreast with the heroic deeds of the unsung tribal hero, Madri Kalo of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), led by its State Joint Coordinator Tankadhar Tripathy, recently launched a weeklong Yuva Jagruti Yatra. The Yatra was flagged off at Madri Kalo's native Kureibaga by local ABVP veterans Madhabram Patel and Rabiratna Patel. "The State is yet to accord the status of a freedom fighter to our son of the soil," lamented a local primary teacher Santosh Pruseth while talking to The visakeo.

Pruseth further added, "Mahabir Parbat with its gurgling stream, Kia Jharan, was famous as the hub of Madri Kalo's tribal uprising. It must be declared and developed as a tourist spot." Kureibaga under Bargaon police station in Rajgangpur Assembly segment is cut off from its Bargaon Block headquarters as the dividing river Safei lacks a bridge. The road connectivity is deplorable.
adri was born to father Lakshman Kalo, who was an influential Praganadar or landlord, and mother Hirabati during the Chaitra month in 1848. The majestic and pitch-dark cliff of Mahabir Parbat was the nursery, playfield and hermitage of the young Madri. Mahabir Parbat serves till date as a line of control between the erstwhile Gangpore State, which is now Sundargarh and the undivided Sambalpur district. Having received elementary education from a local chatsali, which was patronised by his father, Madri was well versed in the Puranas, Mahabharata, Ramayana and the Bhagavat Gita.
As the then royal army of Gangpore recruited tribal youths hailing from Bhuyan, Gond, Kohu, Khadia and Kisan communities, Madri, who belonged to the then most domineering Bhuyans as well as being an able heir apparent to an affluent landlord, excelled in martial arts. Madri is also believed to have consumed pathar lasa, which is a mysterious jelly that oozes from a particular stone and confers invincibility to the person who consumes it. Madri, who had a towering personality and was a popular Kalo or Bhuyan village priest, enjoyed the allegiance of the Gountias (landlords), Tataranga, Bhoipali, Gadposh, Gudiali, Jampali communities. In the wake of the exorbitant khajana levied on the then zamindars, Gountias and Ganjus under the Gangpore State during the regency of British Raj, the affected zamindars had knocked the doors of the Chhota Nagpur British Commissioner at Ranchi and saved themselves from being divested of power. Madri had also raised his voice against the controversial beti bagari (illegal excess revenue) that was levied on the poor subjects. The poor tribal labour-force employed for laying British railway lines were treated like slaves and inflicted untold sufferings. Madri led the protests and got prominently blacklisted by the Chhota Nagpur British Commissionerate. Madri's mutiny launched against the British Raj received wide support from the beleaguered Gonjus and Gountias as well as the oppressed poor tribals. The unstinted support of Bhuyans, Gonds, Kisans and Khadias gathered momentum under the leadership of Madri. Even rebel Khadu Mohapatra of Boinda village in Kuchinda area, who was leading the movement against Bamanda Raja of Sambalpur, joined hands with Madri. By 1895, Madri's activities had reached their zenith, which jilted both the Ganpore Raja and the British Raj. Armed British forces from Singhbhum-based British Deputy Commissionerate were deployed to nab Madri but to no avail. Finally, spies were let loose. Consequently, in February 1897 was tricked into the British dragnet by one of his enemies, Bhagabatia Sahu, who took advantage of his alcohol addiction.
Madri was lodged in the then Sundargarh Jail in 1897 and was shifted to Hazaribagh Jail in 1906, where he had to put up with inhuman treatment and was made physically invalid. He was released in 1910, following which he succumbed to his injuries in one of his relative's home at Liploi in 1914.