“Please do not grieve for me. My only sorrow is I could not see my country free.” These were the words uttered by Lakshman Naik, the great freedom fighter, on the 29th March 1942, soon before being hanged.

Orissa has a large number of tribals. Most of them live in forests and hilly areas. They are generally poor and backward. But many of  them also took active part in the freedom struggle. Lakshman Naik was a tribal leader who fought with the British with indomitable courage and made supreme sacrifice.

Lakshman Naik was born in 1899 in Koraput in south Orissa. His father, Padlam Naik, was a tribal chief. He had a hundred acres of land and he was rich. Lakshman was his second son. Those days there were no schools in the area where Padlam lived and Lakshman did not have any formal education. But he learnt the alphabet with the help of a local teacher. Lakshman was a polite and honest boy. When he was nineteen, his father got him married. Lakshman had one son and one daughter.

As a young man, Lakshman noticed the injustice meted out to the tribals by the Government officials. Whenever a revenue inspector or a forest guard visited his village, the villagers had to offer them whatever the officials wanted. The officers treated the tribals as their slaves. Lakshman was annoyed at this and protested. He had heard that the Koyas, another tribal community of Koraput, had agitated against the British and wanted their freedom. Lakshman wondered why his people should not have a similar agitation.

After his father’s death, Lakshman became the village chief. He served his people in every possible way and was popular. In 1929-30 the message of Gandhiji and the Congress reached Koraput. The people did not cooperate with the British Government. The tribal people, who were exploited by non-tribals for decades, hoped for a better future.

Orissa was made a separate state in 1936 and Sir John Hoback was appointed as the Governor. He wanted to visit Koraput. The officials of the Government took this opportunity to collect all sorts of food and gifts from the poor people who were put to great suffering. Lakshman Naik met some local Congress leaders and brought this to their notice. The report of such exploitation was published in newspapers. The British Government had to pay compensation to the tribals. This was the first major victory of Lakshman Naik in the struggle against injustice done to his people.

As a member of the Congress Party, Lakshman Naik devoted all his time and energy to propagate the message of Gandhiji such as - non-violence, non-cooperation with the foreign government, and prohibition. He became the President of Tentuligumma (a subdivision of Koraput) Congress Committee. The Government declared him a traitor and his title of mustedar (tribal chief) was withdrawn.

In 1942 Gandhiji made the freedom struggle more vigorous and gave the call to the British to quit India. Lakshman Naik joined the movement and was imprisoned for nine months. On the 21 st August ’42 Lakshman Naik was to address a large meeting at the market place of Mathili. He hoisted the Congress flag and asked the people to fight for their freedom in a non­violent way. Some members of the crowd tried to hoist the Congress flag on the roof of the local police station. There was a tussle between the police and the crowd. The police fired 12 rounds of bullets and eight people died. The police beat Lakshman Naik mercilessly with the bayonet and he lost his consciousness. Thinking that he was dead, the police left him there.

But Lakshman Naik recovered his consciousness after some time and proceeded to his village. He still asked his people to fight for their freedom and not to cooperate with the foreign government. The police arrested him in his village and brought several false charges against him. One such allegation was that he had killed one forest guard.

The judge accepted the false charge of the police and gave the verdict of hanging Lakshman Naik. Lakshman was a true Gandhian and believer in non-violence. Eminent Congress leaders of Koraput appealed to the Patna High Court to save his life. The British jury of the Patna High Court agreed with the verdict given earlier by the lower court. But the Privy Council, the highest court of justice, turned down the verdict and declared that Lakshman Naik be not hanged. But before the verdict of the Privy Council reached Lakshman Naik, he had been hanged in the Berhampur Jail.