Died 17 September 2012 | ||
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Prem Ram Dubey (23 October 1933 – 17 September 2012) is better known as the founding father of the Kosal State Movement (or the Separate Kosal Movement). He spearheaded the movement against oppression and exploitation of the people of rich and fertile golden bowl of Western Orissa (Kosal) by the coastal Eastern Orissa. His movement was based on taking a corrective action towards the historical mistake perpetrated by linguistic carving and organisation of the states of independent India.
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Kosal is the 'golden bowl' of Orissa and is interspersed with hills and fertile plains of alluvial deposited by perennial rivers criss-crossing the region. It is rich in coal and mineral wealth. It is home to one of the world's greatest power and irrigation project on the river Mahanadi. Historically, Kosal had a greater cultural and political affinity to areas which were in erstwhile Madhya Pradesh (now Chhattisgarh). However, at the time of reorganization of the princely states of India after independence, Kosal was thrown together with the coastal Orissa to form the state of Orissa on the basis of the fact that the script of the language spoken in Kosal region, popularly known as Sambalpuri, is similar to the script of the Oriya language. Oriya, hitherto largely spoken in the coastal Orissa, was planted as the language of Sambalpur and the other regions of Western Orissa overlooking Sambalpuri, which was the language of this region. As a result, there is considerable cultural difference between the people of two halves of Orissa and as the seat of power is in Eastern or coastal Orissa, the rich and fertile west serves only as a colony to be exploited, burdened and its resources harnessed to feed and develop Eastern Orissa.
Shri PR Dubey was a great mass leader who first voiced the demand for a separate Kosal state. He worked in close connection with erstwhile Prime Ministers of India, Shri VP Singh and Shri Chandrashekhar towards freeing the people of the Western Orissa from the clutches of exploitative coastal Orissa. Initially, to spearhead the movement for a separate Kosal state he constituted a political party named Western Orissa Peoples' Front, but later when he discovered that Western Orissa historically identified with Kosal, he named the party Kosal Party. For the first time a map of the proposed Kosal state was published by him in 1990.
Childhood
Prem Ram was the eldest of four sons born to Shri Malik Ram Dubey, the Gauntia (chief village headman) family of Anterdol Dandapat (chief village of a collection of 18 villages) presently Budhianchal, submerged in the Hirakud. His happy childhood was spent playing with his younger brothers in the jungles of the Guja mountains (a peak of which is now seen in the middle of the Hirakud dam's reservoir), racing horses, feeding on sweet tasting Char fruits and underwater hide and seek.
Early education
Shri PR Dubey had his education at Guhalpada for initial three years at Anterdol. Thereafter, he used to travel 1.5 miles on foot everyday to Balanda village till he was 7 years old. Thereafter, he was sent to Sambalpur to join Class IV at Zilla School. He continued his education till Matriculation at the Zilla School.
At this time, the Hirakud dam was proposed to be constructed. if the Hirakud were to be constructed, Antardol Dandapat and several other villages will be submerged completely in its backwaters. Shri Harekrushna Mahatab, the first Chief Minister of Orissa pressurised Shri Bodhram Dubey, who was an uncle to Shri Prem Ram, and the first Education Minister of Orissa to allow the Hirakud dam to be constructed. Though Shri Bodhram did not budge initially, circumstances and pressure from Government made Shri Bodhram Dubey to remain absent from Sambalpur, while the Government officials captured the lands of Antardol Dandapat and other villages. All this while young Prem Ram's perceptive mind was a witness to the deceit and chicanery perpetrated by the Government to construct the Hirakud by depriving several thousand people of their land and subsistence. Meanwhile, Prem Ram had to shift to East Hostel, Ravenshaw College for B.A, Hons. His performance at Ravenshaw College gave him the reference of his Philosophy Professor, Dr. Rajendra Ratha from Patna and he was admitted to Banaras Hindu University, Banaras.
He simultaneously pursued Masters in Law, Philosophy, Music and Fine Arts. He secured First position in Masters in Law and won the Benaras Hindu University's Gold Medal. However, Shri PR Dubey could never collect the Medal as he was called home as construction of the Hirakud dam had started and evacuation orders had been issued. These happenings and injustice meted out to the people of Antardol Dandapat and other villages which were submerged in the Hirakud had a great impact on the young mind of Prem Ram and sowed the seeds of revolution.In 1955, he was married to Shashikala, the daughter of eminent Freedom Fighter and close associate of Gandhiji, Late Dr Jwala Prasad Mishra and Smt Vedvati Mishra.
Professional career
"FARMER, TEACHER, LEADER, LAWYER, SCHOLAR" Shri PR Dubey, was initially, forced by his father to follow the family occupation of cultivating paddy and he got a copious harvest in his very first attempt. But an ambitious law student like him could never spend his life tilling the land, his destiny was to become the flag bearer of the greatest movement of the people of Western Orissa for their rights.
In 1967, he joined Sambalpur Law College as a part-time Lecturer. Because of internal politics, he resigned the post, but returned shortly thereafter having been elected as the Senior Senate Member and Syndicate of the Sambalpur University. After a short tenure in this position, he became the Dean of Law at Sambalpur University. He also accepted the position of Principal of the very same Sambalpur Law College from where he had to resign following college politics; such was the fighter spirit of the great Shri Prem Ram Dubey. The urge to reach out to the society made him to join the Congress Party. Shri PR Dubey's main source of inspiration for this was Late Shri Bodhram Dubey, who was the regional President of Congress then. With Shri Bodhram Dubey, he got an opportunity to attend the Simla National Summit of Congress. At Simla, he met with former Prime Minister Shri Chandrashekhar and shared his vision with him. But his tenure with the Congress also revealed to him that he had been sadly disillusioned about the Congress and that most of the Congress workers were just puppets in the larger power game. Most of the leaders and politicians were not dedicated towards the upliftment of the masses or the people of Kosal but were just interested in filling their pockets. This made him to start his own political party in 1988, by the name of Western Orissa Peoples' Front and finally known as the Kosal Party in 1992.
Whatever time remained from his larger goals in life was devoted to the practice and study of law. Shri PR Dubey fought some historic cases of Sambalpur. The Siddheswar Berna (Mandir) case related to the capture of Temple's land by some Muslims, with aid of the able advice and loquacious arguments of Shri PR Dubey, the case was adjudicated in favour of Shri PR Dubey and this victory had excited the masses to such an extent that as an honour to Shri PR Dubey, he was made to sit on an elephant's back and the procession was taken around the town.
An avid scholar of History, Shri Dubey's historical researches find mention in several historical books and treatises like "Dakshin Kosal Ka Prachin Itihas"PREVIEW by Dr. P.L.Diwan. His article "The politics of Language" traces the history of the Oriya language that Oriya was planted as spoken language of Sambalpur and Kalahandi districts in the Records of British Government. Subsequently, Sambalpuri speaking regions were claimed as Oriya speaking regions. This sounded the death knell for the centuries-old Kosal state being eclipsed and ruled by the Oriya speaking people.
Later political activities
Shri. Prem Ram Dubey was first person to feel the Need of Kosal and submitted a memorandum to President of India.Jharkhand party's claimed over Sambalpur and Sundergarh for inclusion into Jharkhand. The Kosal Sammelani(Earlier group formed by Sri.Prem Ram Dubey) urged,the state government and union government not to enter into any negotiation with any claimant for the transfer of any part of proposed Kosal state Mr Prem asserted that while Punjab has only 46,000 km2, Kosal region having 75,000 sq. km and a population of one crore has not been made into a state. He had also published the first newspaper for the Kosal state "Kosal Khabar". He also constituted the "Kosal Sena". He authored a book Hame Kosli Hamar Bhasa Kosli. and "Why Kosal State". His work for the upliftment of hundreds of bidi workers in the Kosal region is noteworthy. This was a part of work done by Shri PR Dubey's Kosal Party for civil welfare. All bidi workers were given separate identity cards at the cost of the Kosal Party and a meeting was held on each Saturday for solving and addressing their grievances.
Many political parties with rowdy approach to the movement entered the kosal movement in recent decades.But none of them could gain national interest and kept blaming the forerunners of the movement for their failure.
Death
Prem Ram Dubey died on 17 September 2012 after prolonged illness. Courts in Sambalpur were suspended for a day in his honour and condolence meetings were held at the Sambalpur Bar Association and at many places of Shri Prem Ram Dubey used to frequent.