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Biswambhar Parida

Biswambhar Parida was a Gandhian freedom fighter and journalist from Odisha. He joined India’s independence movement early in life, and later spent over 40 years working in Odia journalism.

Biswambhar Parida, from his 1987 Odisha State Freedom Fighters’ identity card for pension. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

📑 Contents

1A Gandhian in Odisha
2A Life in Journalism
3Test Yourself
4A Thinly Documented Life

A Gandhian in Odisha Need to Know

Biswambhar Parida was born on 8 February 1921, in Jagatsinghpur district, in present-day Odisha.
He joined India’s independence movement at a young age, following Gandhian principles.
British authorities imprisoned him for about two years, at Berhampur Jail.
During his imprisonment, he took part in social, literary, and organisational activities with fellow freedom fighters.
He died on 25 November 1999, in Cuttack.

A Life in Journalism Good to Know

After independence, he became a journalist. He worked for more than 40 years, at leading Odia newspapers including Samaja and Prajatantra.
At Prajatantra, he was a close associate of Dr. Harekrushna Mahatab, Odisha’s first Chief Minister.
Parida wrote “Mukti Sangramare Odisha,” a book tracing the independence movement from Odisha’s own perspective.
He also published a poetry collection, rendered in different sources as “Shatabdira Dyani” or “Shatabdira Dhwani” (“Voice of the Century”).
He served as President of the All Odisha Freedom Fighters’ Samiti, for more than 15 years, and as Vice-President of the All India Freedom Fighters’ Samiti.
He remained a Trust Board member of the Prajatantra Prachar Samiti, until his death.
He was reportedly honoured posthumously with the “Utkal Jyoti” award, though independent details of this specific honour are hard to confirm.

Test Yourself

A Thinly Documented Life Great to Know

Exact details of the specific protest or action that led to his arrest are not clearly documented — common for many state-level Gandhian activists of that era.
He remained personally acquainted with several later Chief Ministers of Odisha, including Biju Patnaik and Janaki Ballabh Patnaik.
His identity as a working journalist alongside a freedom-fighter background is a reminder that India’s independence movement fed directly into the region’s post-independence press.

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