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Orissa wants Sareikala and Kharasuan back

Bibhuti Mishra in Bhubaneshwar

When Orissa became a separate province under the British rule on April 1, 1936, several parts of neighbouring Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Padesh, which were supposed to merge with the new state, never did so. Somebody, somewhere probably cried aloud- April Fool!

But those were Raj days. Today, Orissa is readying to see that another "historical injustice" - inflicted this time upon the state by the Government of India - is corrected.

The ruling Biju Janata Dal has begun gearing up to reclaim two erstwhile princely states - Kharasuan and Sareikala - which, the party believes, were wrongfully merged with Bihar on May 18, 1948.

Although some consider it to be a dead issue, the Oriyas have always been touchy about the two places and the demand for their re-merger with state might just turnout to be a highly emotive issue.

Sareikala anmd Kharasuan - unlike Singhbhum - had not merged with the South West Frontier Agency that came into being in the wake of the Debgram Treaty. The two princely states remained with the Eastern States Agency of Orissa till 1948.

On January 1, 1948 Orissa assumed the charge of all the princely states that had merged with it. According to V P Menon, author of The story of Integration of the Indian states , the king of Kharasuan wanted his state to be merged with Bihar. But the king of Sareikala was pro-Orissa right from the beginning.

Soon after Orissa assumed charge of the two princely states along with several others, there were a series of armed tribal uprisings in Kharasuan and the subsequent police firing claimed as many as 700 lives. Officials maintained the toll was 30.

This created an anti-Orissa feeling in Kharasuan and the king was criticised for merging with Orissa. There were cries of protests in Sareikala too, but the royalty had its way.

"Actually the attitude of the then Orissa government was that of a conqueror. After taking over the reigns of the state, the administrator sent a telegram to Delhi which said "conquest peaceful."

"This alienated the people of Kharasuan and Sareikala and things worsened with repressive measures undertaken to suppress the voice of protest," writes late Surendra Mohanty, eminent historian and politicians, in his autobiography.

The two princely states were subsequently integrated into Bihar, via the merger order of the Governor General on August 1,1949, despite protests in Orissa.

Though it is believed that the kings of Sareikala and Kharasuan conspired to have their states merged with Bihar, it is also a fact that Orissa had no leader to counter Dr Rajendra Prasad who supported their merger with Bihar.

The then premier of Orissa, Dr Harekrushna Mahatab, also agreed to bury the issue as is evident from this statement of Dr Srikrishna Sinha, the premier of Bihar at that time - "In the joint statement signed on April 8, 1949 the premiers of Bihar, Orissa and Central Province desire to state that they have accepted the decision of the Government of India in regard to the present distribution of former native states belonging to the Eastern States Agency and there is no controversy between them on that account."

On October 10, 1955 the States Reorganisation Commission once again rejected the demand for re-merger of Sareikala and Kharasuan with Orissa.

Though the BJD has revived this demand, its pleas have so far been ignored. However the party has received some rather encouraging support from Oriya outfits in Sareikala and Kharasuan.

If the BJD manages to secure Sareikala and Kharasuan back into the Oriyan fold, it would have an entire state indebted to it. But if it fails, the embarrassment will be huge.

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