Biju (Bijayananda) Patnaik (1916–1997) is the only Indian whose dead body was wrapped in national flag of 3 countries — India, Russia & Indonesia.

2 min readAug 26, 2022

Recently there was a question regarding this in KBC show. So thought of writing a note on this.

Biju Patnaik has served as the Chief Minister of Odisha for two terms & before that he was a pilot. After his death, Indonesia declared seven days’ state mourning while Russia observed state mourning for a day as a mark of respect for the departed leader. ‘Biju Babu’ is revered in both Indonesia and Russia.
For his contribution to Indonesia’s independence, Sukarno conferred the title “Bhumi Putra” on him in 1950.
He also helped the Soviet Army in its fight against Hitler during World War II and was honored by the Russians.

Details:
Biju Patnaik was a pilot & when the Soviet Union was in trouble during World War II, he bombed Hitler’s forces by flying a fighter aircraft Dakota, which forced Hitler to retreat. The highest award was also given to him and he was granted honorary citizenship by the Soviet Union.

Indonesia was once a colony of Dutch ie Holland and the Dutch occupied a large area of Indonesia. Dutch soldiers kept the whole sea around Indonesia under their control and they did not let any Indonesian citizen out. Indonesia was liberated from Dutch in 1945. In July 1947 Indonesian PM Sutan Sjahrir was house arrested by the Dutch. They sought India’s help. Indian side asked Biju Patnaik to rescue the then Indonesian PM Sjahrir to India. On 22nd July 1947, Biju Patnaik flew out; while flying over the control area of the Dutch, they landed on their soil & showing great bravery brought the Indonesian PM to India safely via Singapore. The incident developed a tremendous energy in them, they attacked the Dutch soldiers & Indonesia attained independence. Later, when the daughter of Indonesian President Sukarno was born, he called Biju Patnaik& his wife to name the infant. Biju Patnaik& his wife named the President’s daughter as Meghawati. Indonesia had granted honorary citizenship award ‘Bhumi Putra’ to him in 1950.

These are the man of honour……not sure how & why we lost such a beautiful chapter in History text.