Laxman Nayak

Laxman Nayak, a folk-hero of Orissa and a cultfigure among its tribals, was born on 22nd November,
1899 in Tentuliguma village of Koraput district and
his father padlam Nayak was a tribal chieftain and
'Mustadar' under 'Jeypore Samasthanam' in the then
Madras Presidency.
The local administration worked as an ant of the British Government. The
tribals under this administration were treated like children of a lesser God and
where subjected to top inhuman torture and performed even by petty revenue
officials, forest guides and police constables.laxman nayak organised the
tribals against exploitation by the officials of Jeypore Samasthanam and its
British masters successfully. This brought him recognition as a potential tribal
leader and the National Congress admitted Laxman nayak into its fold.
During the course of his training in Naupuri training centre for Congress
workers, Laxman Nayak had the opportunity to meet and interact with several
Zonal and State level leaders and get a chance to broaden his horizons.

This taining inculcated in him a spirit for Nationalism and indoctrinated him
with the Gandhian principles of truth, nonviolence and peaceful noncooperation with the British Government. He carried a Charkha, with the
message of adult education and abstinence form alcohol to every tribal
household of his area and brought about a total change in the rural scenario.
He became the Chef de Mission in the Congress campaign in the Malkangiri
Sub-division during the first ever election 1936.
Howerver, greater things were in store for him. Responding to the call of
Mahatma Gandhi, laxman Nayak led a procession on 21st August 1942 an
demonstrated peacefully in front of Mythili Police Station . But the police
fired at the demonstrators indiscriminately.which claimed forty lives and
more than two hundred were injured. But the administration further falsely
implicated Laxman nayak in a case of murder and the death sentence was
pronounced on him on 13th November, 1942.He was hanged to death on 29th
March 1943 in Berharmpur Jail.
Nayak in Oriya means chief of a tribe, a leader and a hero. Laxman Nayak
was all these and much more.