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Plane Biju Patnaik flew to save Indonesian PM to be displayed at Odisha airport
Former Odisha chief minister Biju Patnaik flew the Dakota aircraft to save former Indonesian Prime Minister Sutan Sjahrir and his deputy out of Jakarta amid Dutch forces’ firing in 1947
The Dakota aircraft, flown by former Odisha chief minister Biju Patnaik to take former Indonesian Prime Minister Sutan Sjahrir and his deputy out of Jakarta amid Dutch forces’ firing in 1947, will reach Bhubaneswar on Monday for display at the city airport.
The plane will leave from the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata on Thursday and reach Bhubaneswar on Monday, said additional secretary in the Odisha commerce and transport department, Debadutta Suranjita Jena.
“The West Bengal police will provide escort on January 12 from the Kolkata Airport exit gate to the state border from where the Odisha police will accompany it up to the Biju Patnaik International Airport. Although the state government had initiated efforts to shift the 20-metre long aircraft having a wingspan of 29 metre to Odisha in 2020 and floated a tender for its transportation, the process was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said.
The Odisha government has entrusted M/S Aerospace Research & Development Centre, Bhubaneswar to dismantle, package and transport the aircraft from Kolkata to Bhubaneswar. The company will restore, reassemble and do the renovation work at the Biju Patnaik airport in Bhubaneswar. While ₹75 lakh will be spent on transportation, another ₹3 crore will be spent on its restoration and reassembling at the Bhubaneswar airport.
Director of Biju Patnaik airport, Prasanna Pradhan said the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has land outside Terminal 1 for display of the aircraft as a mark of tribute to the legendary leader.
Historian Anil Dhir said on July 22 1947, accompanied by his aviator wife Gyan, Patnaik had flown the Dakota plane to Jakarta, the Indonesian Capital to safely escort out the country’s Prime Minister Sutan Sjahrir and vice-president Mohammad Hatta.
“Indonesia was freed from Dutch rule in 1945, after which Indonesia’s first President Sukarno along with its Prime Minister Sultan Sjahrir formed an independent government in the country. However in 1946, the Dutch wanted to recolonise Indonesia again and launched a full-fledged attack in July 1947 putting Sjharir under house arrest. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru then requested Biju Patnaik to get Sjahrir and Hatta out of the country. He courageously ventured into Dutch-occupied airspace and despite warning by the Dutch that he would be shot down, he flew Sjharir and Hatta to Singapore and to India,” said Dhir.
Patnaik’s daring mission helped focus global attention on Indonesia’s fight for freedom and the country achieved independence on December 27, 1949. A grateful Indonesia had twice decorated Biju Patnaik with its highest civilian honour ‘Bhumiputra’ for rescuing Sutan Sjahrir.
Before joining active politics, Biju Patnaik had set up Kalinga Airlines, which operated from Kolkata. He was also a member of the Royal Indian Air Force under the British.
