Biju Patnaik: The Pilot Who Flew Into Someone Else’s War

Three weeks before India itself became independent, an Indian pilot flew into a warzone. He was rescuing Indonesia’s own independence leaders from a Dutch military blockade, under threat that he would be shot down.

Biju Patnaik, former Chief Minister of Odisha. CC BY-SA 4.0, Odisha Legislative Assembly, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Pilot Who Flew Into Someone Else’s War

ModHist0278

JUL 1947

Flies Into a Dutch Blockade

Rescues Indonesian leaders from Jakarta, weeks before India’s own independence

23 JUN 1961

Becomes Odisha Chief Minister

His first term, focused on industrialisation and infrastructure

1977-1980

Union Minister for Steel and Mines

Serves under Prime Ministers Morarji Desai and Charan Singh

5 MAR 1990

Returns as Chief Minister

Leads Janata Dal to a two-thirds majority in Odisha

A citizen of one nation, decorated by two more: Indonesia and the Soviet Union both awarded him their highest civilian honours.

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📑 Contents

1Timeline
2A Wartime Pilot Who Flew Into Someone Else’s War
3Kalinga Airlines, and a Contested Kashmir Flight
4Test Yourself
5Three Nations, Three Honours

Timeline

5 March 1916: Biju Patnaik is born in Cuttack, in what is now Odisha.
1930s: He trains as a pilot, and joins Indian National Airways.
World War II: He flies transport aircraft for the Royal Indian Air Force, evacuating civilians from Japanese-occupied Rangoon.
January 1943: The British arrest him, for covertly ferrying underground Quit India leaders. He remains jailed until 1946.
20 July 1947: Dutch forces launch “Operation Product,” to retake Jakarta and suppress Indonesia’s independence movement.
Late July 1947: Patnaik flies into the blockade, rescuing Indonesian leaders Sutan Sjahrir and Mohammad Hatta.
15 August 1947: India itself becomes independent, weeks after Patnaik’s Indonesia mission.
27 October 1947: Indian troops airlift into Srinagar to secure Kashmir. Patnaik is among the pilots who fly that airlift.
23 June 1961: He becomes Chief Minister of Odisha for the first time.
1977-1980: He serves as Union Minister for Steel and Mines.
5 March 1990: He returns as Chief Minister of Odisha, leading Janata Dal to a landslide win.
17 April 1997: He dies in New Delhi, aged 81.

A Wartime Pilot Who Flew Into Someone Else’s War Need to Know

Biju Patnaik (5 March 1916 – 17 April 1997) was an Indian pilot, freedom fighter, and politician from Odisha. He served as its Chief Minister twice.
He trained as a pilot in the 1930s. During World War II, he flew transport aircraft for the Royal Indian Air Force, while also secretly supporting India’s independence movement.
In January 1943, the British arrested him, for covertly ferrying underground Quit India Movement leaders, including Jayaprakash Narayan. He remained jailed until 1946.
In late July 1947, weeks before India’s own independence, he flew a dangerous mission into Jakarta. Dutch forces had just launched “Operation Product” to retake the city, targeting Indonesian leader Sutan Sjahrir. He had recently stepped down as Prime Minister, but remained the Republic’s chief international negotiator.
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru personally asked Patnaik to fly Sjahrir and Vice President Mohammad Hatta out of Java. Dutch authorities warned he would be shot down, but he completed the rescue.
He was Chief Minister of Odisha from 23 June 1961 to 2 October 1963, focusing on industrialisation. He returned for a second term from 5 March 1990 to 15 March 1995, after leading Janata Dal to a two-thirds majority.
He served as Union Minister for Steel and Mines, under Prime Ministers Morarji Desai and Charan Singh, between 1977 and 1980.
He died on 17 April 1997, in New Delhi. His coffin was draped with the flags of India, Russia, and Indonesia.

Kalinga Airlines, and a Contested Kashmir Flight Good to Know

He founded Kalinga Airlines in 1947. It was nationalised into Indian Airlines in 1953, then relaunched as his own charter operator from 1957 to 1972.
On 27 October 1947, Indian troops airlifted into Srinagar, to secure Kashmir. Patnaik is widely credited as one of the pilots on that airlift, though the record of exactly whose aircraft landed first remains disputed among historians.
He was also behind major Odisha infrastructure projects, including the Port of Paradip and Bhubaneswar Airport, driven forward during his time as Chief Minister.
His wife, Gyan Patnaik, was the first Indian woman to hold a commercial pilot’s licence. She flew evacuation missions alongside him during the war.
In 1951, he established the Kalinga Prize, an international award for popularising science, later entrusted to UNESCO. It remains the only such international prize to have originated in India.
His son, Naveen Patnaik, later served as Odisha’s Chief Minister from 2000 to 2024, a far longer tenure than his father’s.

Test Yourself

Three Nations, Three Honours Great to Know

Indonesia later granted him honorary citizenship, and gave him a “Bhumiputra” (Son of the Soil) title. In 1995, at its 50th independence anniversary, it also awarded him the Bintang Jasa Utama, its highest civilian award.
The Soviet Union separately awarded him the Order of Lenin, its own highest civilian decoration, for his role supporting Allied forces during World War II.
His 1947 Indonesia flight is often remembered as the founding moment of India-Indonesia relations. See IntlRel0048 — India-Indonesia Relations, for how that relationship has developed since.
The timing of the flight is easy to miss. He risked his life for another country’s independence before his own country had formally achieved it.
Three different nations honoured him, each for a different reason. Indonesia honoured a daring rescue, the Soviet Union honoured wartime support, and India honoured decades of political leadership.
His son Naveen Patnaik eventually served longer as Odisha’s Chief Minister than Biju Patnaik himself did. Political dominance in the state effectively passed from father to son.