Puri: The hope for getting back Biju Patnaik’s Dakota DC-3 aircraft, which he used to rescue then Indonesian Prime Minister Sutan Sjahrir from the Dutch military back in 1947, has been rekindled with the Airport Authority of India giving permission for its relocation.
At a press meet organised at Urban Haat Monday, Shree Jagannath Sena convener Priyadarshan Patnaik said several members of Shree Jagannath Sena had met Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri at his office October 10 and submitted a memorandum, requesting his permission for getting the aircraft back to Odisha.
The AAI has also given its consent for shifting of the plane. A letter Shree Jagannath Sena received from the AAI mentions that the plane carries memories of Biju Patnaik’s heroic deeds. “It will be an appropriate honour to the legendary person if the plane is stationed at an equally respected place, after holding discussion with the state government,” the letter mentions.
Priyadarshan also said that the AAI had written a letter to Odisha chief secretary December 2017, asking him to give this historic plane a place either at Biju Patnaik International Airport or at State Museum.
Expressing his astonishment over the delay, Patnaik said it is yet to be understood why the state government is sitting on the proposal.
Priyadarshan said the Dakota DC-3 plane, Biju Babu’s favourite, is presently parked in an abandoned state at Netaji Subash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata. This is the same plane that Biju Patnaik flew to rescue Sjahrir July 22, 1947.
“The news of a plot pertaining to selling off the plane to scrap dealers prompted Shree Jagannath Sena to try and get it back it to Odisha,” Priyadarshan said, adding that, the Sena has already submitted a memorandum to the Civil Aviation Minister and Chief Minister of West Bengal on this context.
We urge the state government to take steps to bring the plane back to Odisha. We request the state government to place the plane, Biju Babu’s tomb after its removal from Swarga Dwar, and a statue of him at the Urban Haat here.
If the state government fails on its part to initiate any step to bring back the plane to Odisha, the Sena will do it, even if it has to beg for it, he added.
PNN