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Nilachakra |
Utkala
Diwasa Special -
Why India
does not have a Kalinga Regiment |
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Jaya Jagannath,
( An Utkala Dibasa Special article )
Heard of braveries and war
winning tales of Punjab Regiment, Madras Regiment, Maratha Light
Infantry, Rajputana Rifles, Rajput Regiment, Jat Regiment, Sikh
Regiment, Sikh Light Infantry, Dogra Regiment, Garhwal Rifles,
Kumaon Regiment, Assam Rifles, Bihar Regiment, Mahar, Jammu &
Kashmir Rifles, J&K Light Infantry, Naga, Gorkha Rifles and Ladakh
Regiments, but have you ever thought why we don’t have a Kalinga
Regiment. Well statistics shows our Odia soldiers serving other
regiments have out shined and shown tremendous fighting skills
setting bench marks in Indian defense forces, But in spite of all
that we do not have our own regiment.
Brave Fighters of Kalinga Dynasty ( A
shining history recap ) :
1. Since the Mahabharata times, the land Kalinga had not only
flourished in art, architecture but also has out shone as a great
military and naval power, pioneering the martial art traditions from
Ganga water bodies in North till Krishna in South.
2. During "PAIKA REBELLION" of 1817-18 under the leadership of
Gladiator Sri. Bakshi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar of khurda (once upon a
time was the Kingdom of the Kalinga dynasty ), the guerilla Paika
fighters of Orissa had kept the british regiment at bay and stopped
their invasion into Orissa. The British were never interested in
taking over Orissa, but they wanted the coastal part as a strategic
connection between Calcutta and Madras. They had no option but to
face the Odiyas repeatedly. They planned a strategy and went on a
sudden attack from Calcutta, Nagpur and Madras side to win Orissa,
But the British had never faced a group of people so spirited and
after sufficient analysis it was understood that the Martial
Tradition of Odiyas was their strength and inspiration.
3. Even the de-facto Magadha Emperor, Ashoka had always found
Kalinga an improbable and challenging rival, the military strength
and fighting spirit of Kalinga people had overwhelmed Ashoka,
eventually leading him to transformation from Chanda-Ashok to
Dharma-Ashok. Kalinga War being the greatest wars fought in the
history of man-kind.
4. During the ties of great king Aira Kharvela, Kalinga was not only
rebuilt but also avenged the defeat of Magadha. Maharaja Kharvela
instilled back the lost confidence and gave a direction for the
forthcoming centuries.
5. Kalinga-Orissa saw a string of powerful and stable dynasties like
the Bhaumkaras, Somvanshis, Sailodbhav and Gangas. Kalinga-Orissa
extended its influence till Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia
and the entire South East Asia. Kalinga had a full fledged Naval
Contingent commercially influencing the eastern hemisphere. Bali
Jatra is the reminiscent of that proud sea-faring tradition of our
ancestors.
6. During early second millennium, Kalinga was ruled by the Gangas,
Odiyas rose to maintain the sovereignty of their region when the
entire Northern India, Western India and substantial part of Eastern
India were under the complete dominance of Islamic rulers. Maharaja
Langula Narasingha Dev pushed the invaders till Dhaka and plundered
them. The Gangas pushed the spirits and military strengths to new
heights.
7. Under Maharaja Kapilendra Dev Gajapati, Kalinga reached the
pinnacle. He had extended Kalinga to present day Trichunapalli,
Cuttack(Kataka), Midnapore(Medinipur) and Rajamundry (Rajmahendri)
were three operating capitals of the Gajapati. In his peak he
conquered nine forts and was also known as Gajapati Navakoti Karnata
Utkal Kalavargeshwar, where Karnata refered to eastern coast and
Kalvarg is the present day Gulbarga [ Kalboorgi]. The dominance and
strength of the Odiyas had achieved remarkable levels.
The British awarded many regiments to various martial groups like
Rajputs, Marathas, Sikhs who pledged loyalty to them. But no
regiments for Odiyas, it was because Odiyas are freedom-loving
sovereign people and giving weapon to them would have caused the
doom of British.
The state of self-demeaning in which we find many Odiyas now, has
been because of this. Our Martial traditions have been knowingly
deleted and obliterated from our minds so as to make us feel lowly.
Odiyas have to realize and revisit the glorious martial past .
Government of India has a contradictory view so far; when the
British treated as too militant, the Defense officials treat Odiyas
as non- martial . This is an irony of fate. All of us must raise the
demand for a Kalinga Regiment, which will be a tribute to the
long-standing martial tradition of the Odiyas. The regiment will not
only justify the patriotic dare fighting spirit of Odia Youth, but
also will answer to the sacrifice and devotion of our ancestors. The
Kalinga Regiment will be our tribute to the brave ancestors of
modern Odisha and it will gift India its age-old eastern protectors.
Jai Jagannat. Bande Utkal Janani.
Regards
Team
Nilachakra
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---------- Forwarded message
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From: ganeswar dalai <gdalai_1977@yahoo.co.in>
Date: Tue, Mar 24, 2009 at 6:37 AM
Subject: Re: Why India does not have a Kalinga Regiment
To: Nilachakra <nilachakra7@gmail.com>
Nodout,it's so sad matter regarding above,it's depends upon political issues and
our's coordination also,But it's universal truth that "Nilchakra" has such
regimant by oriya people which is not any of them till now . during this focus ,
i would like invite all oriyas be gather to create new rememberable regiment in
globally which wiil be teachable to others...
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---------- Forwarded message
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From: Ashish T <ashish.t@tcs.com>
Date: Tue, Mar 24, 2009 at 4:26 AM
Subject: Re: Why India does not have a Kalinga Regiment
To: Nilachakra <nilachakra2@gmail.com>
Dear,
This is extremely well articulated facts. We realize our tradition and believe
in our culture. As of today all of us have become selflessly centered only to
our growth. We have definitely lost our charm and confidence. Thus in our own
industry we see odiyas fighting for themselves but still being laid out as we
are not trained to deal with circumstances. We are bought up highly protective,
with touchy emotional values and with little or no care for brotherhoods. Well
this mail of yours is highly inspiring, but do we when we look into ourselves
see us as fighters or followers. Personally speaking i am in for whatever needs
to be done for our people back in orissa. Kindly share with us your plans of
going ahead with this thought provoking mail. We would certainly like to see the
dawn of light where we can have our own regiment. To begin with let us have the
facts of no of Odiya officer and jawan who are serving the Services. Secondly we
should see how to promote and train people such that interest can be developed
for youth to join our forces.
Regards,
Ashish
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---------- Forwarded message
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From: Ajay Sarvagnam <sarvajaya@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Mar 24, 2009 at 10:46 AM
Subject: Re: Why India does not have a Kalinga Regiment
To: Siba Ram Baral <sibaram.baral@gmail.com>, Nilachakra <nilachakra18@gmail.com>
Sj Siba Ram Baral:
I am positive something will work-out.
It took a 26/11 to wake-up many of us. Perhaps, it required this below-the-belt
attack (especially for the upper middle class). We already have forgotten most
of it.
Look at the run-up to the 'exorbitant circus' we call a General Election.
Rs10,000 crores? Why? Especially to elect 'jokers' & criminals, who hardly
attend the Parliament or Assembly Session. Even if they do, they create only
ruckus. Yes, election is very important, but, I cannot understand the huge
figure.
There are at least 20 people who are looking to become the PM. I doubt how many
of them truly deserve to be one? How many of them can call themselves to have
(truly) worked for their constituency? LEAVE ALONE THE STATE & INDIA. Are they
authentic Statespersons? Somebody collects 1000s crores on birthdays, other is
involved in all kind of scams & so on. There has to be system to elect only
Statesmen or Stateswomen to the posts of Presidents, PMs, Governors, CMs etc.
Something like this available in Singapore, I am told. I know Singapore is too
small in comparison, but, cannot we make something of our own?
It pains. Many of us miss the opportunity we get. Even the legend Biju Babu
(mostly) missed the second chance he got in the 90s. He was among the first ones
to realise the importance of the changing economic order. He saw what Narasimha
Rao-Manmohan Singh were trying to do. But, was it his ego which came in between?
Odisha missed a great opportunity. Despite his 'friends' being at the centre (at
least up to 2004) Naveen Babu also seems to have missed the train? Not that it
requires your own party at Delhi to work for your state. It is very easy to say
that Delhi is not done this or that, no? Look at Modi of Gujarat (I am not
affiliated to or fan of any party or person, but do admire people like E
Sreedharan of Delhi Metro or V Kurien of White Revolution who, at their age, did
& do an excellent job for India). Though I would not recommend what Karunanidhi
did but, his party has had huge numbers of ministers both in the NDA & UPA
governments and it seems to have certainly helped TN. The purpose is to run a
corp
orate entity called '.......... State', efficiently, as a well run organisation.
Of course, the social commitments need not be forgotten or overlooked.
Yes. Your point is very well taken. There must have been a Kalinga Regiment.
But, many things in a country / state's history need to have taken place at an
opportune time. If the time lapses, things are not the same.
One of the most important thing for us Indians is all the rivers should have
been inter-connected immediately after our Independence, if not before. It did
not happen then, it is almost impossible now. No state wants to share its rivers
& water sources. The situation is stark, many states waste their water & many
thirst. Even within the state this happens.
With all the natural resources Odisha has, combined with generally peaceful
conditions (at least for 5 decades, post-independence), the state should have
been amongst the front-runners. Look at Gujarat or Punjab, to name a few, where
there are no coal, hardly any iron or other ores, no petroleum, not necessarily
the same party ruling the states all the time, unfortunately major riots have
taken place in both the states etc...., still they are thriving states.
Most of the 'democratic' world criticise China for their 'autocratic' ways, but,
they dare not touch them, because of the economics, their market, marketing
skills etc
There is no harm in rooting for Kalinga(*) Regiment, but, there are more
pressing matters than that. Each state (& country) needs to be run like a
well-oiled professional corporate & the CM (the PM) the CEO. The person needs to
cut across all 'party' needs and work for the State (& Country). Be a Statesman
(a Statesperson). So be his/her team & the bureaucrats. Have an healthy
relationship with Delhi, whether you belong to the party at Centre or not. If
the state (or country) is economically progressing all the other things can be
'managed'. A country or a state thrives on its Economics & Marketing skills.
(*) PS: Will all the Odias or Odiyas accept the Regimental name? Why not Paika
or Utkala or Gajapati or Kharavela or Ganga or ....