Hussain Rabi Gandhi (also spelled Hussain Rabigandhi or Husen Rabi Gandhi; 23 April 1948 – 28 January 2023) was an Indian

Odia Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to: * Odia people in Odisha, India * Odia language, an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family * Odia alphabet, a writing system used for the Odia languag ...

writer of the late-twentieth century, a politician and a cultural activist hailing from the Indian state of

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

. Being a founder member of

Biju Janata Dal The Biju Janata Dal (; BJD) is a regional political party in the Indian state of Odisha founded and led by Naveen Patnaik, the current Chief Minister of Odisha and the son of former Chief Minister of Odisha Biju Patnaik, after whom the party i ...

, he served as the general secretary of the party from upon its formation in 1998 till 2005. In 1994 the title of ''Biplabi Loka Kabi'' was conferred upon him by the Mayor of

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literall ...

. He was also awarded with the title of ''Utkala Jyoti'' in 1996 by the then Deputy chief minister of Odisha,

Basant Kumar Biswal Basant Kumar Biswal (August 23, 1936 – September 7, 2003) was a politician belonging to the Indian National Congress party from Odisha. He was Deputy Chief Minister of Odisha. He was member of the legislative assembly from Tirtol assembly co ...

on the behalf of Freedom Fighter's Organisation. Gandhi primarily wrote in

Odia language Odia (, ISO: , ; formerly rendered Oriya ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the official language in Odisha (formerly rendered Orissa), where native speakers make up 82% of the population, and it is also ...

and was bestowed with the Secular India Harmony Award in 1993 by the former

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

Giani Zail Singh Giani Zail Singh (, born Jarnail Singh; 5 May 1916 – 25 December 1994) was an Indian politician from Punjab who served as the seventh president of India from 1982 to 1987. He was the first Sikh and the first person from a backward caste to bec ...

and with the Gangadhar Meher Kabita award in 2015 for his notable contributions to the field of Odia poetry. Hussain served as the President of

Odisha Sahitya Akademi Odisha Sahitya Akademi () is an institution established in 1957 in Odisha for the active promotion of Odia language and literature. It was created as an autonomous literary organisation. In 1970 it was converted into a society. Activities Th ...

(2008–2010). He was famously known as the ''

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

of Korei'' and was regarded as a bridge between

Western Odisha Western Odisha or the western part of Odisha, India, extending from the Kalahandi district in the south to the Sundargarh district in the north. History Historically It's a region of 'Greater Kalinga' & ruled by various dynastys. *Mahameghava ...

and Costal Odisha. He also served as Lead Member of Smt. Nandini Satpathy Memorial Trust (SNSMT).

Early life and education

Hussain was born as Sahibzada Fazal e Haq Mohammad Hussain on 23 April 1948, in Mufti Bagh, Haldigadia village of Jajpur District into the ruling family of Tarakot. He is the eldest son of Mohammed Mozammil Hussain and the grandson of Dabiruddin Mohammad Khan Bahadur, the last ruler of

Tarakote State Tarakote formerly Shergarh-Tarakote Estate was a quasi princely state in Korei, Odisha which was established under the Mughal Empire as a Sarakaar and was later reduced to an intermediary princely estate during the subsequent Maratha and the Br ...

. The critically acclaimed film director and author,

Mehmood Hussain Mehmood Hussain was an Indian filmmaker, avant-garde auteur, director and author hailing from the Indian state of Odisha. Mehmood's feature films and documentaries had represented India in four International film festivals. His first feature ...

is his younger brother. Gandhi attended school first at Korai ME (Middle English) school and then at Bargarh George high school. Hussain graduated and finished his master's degree in history from Gangadhar Meher College,

Sambalpur Sambalpur () is the fifth largest city in the Indian State of Odisha. It is located on the banks of river Mahanadi, with a population of 335,761 (as per 2011 census). Prehistoric settlements have been recorded there. It is the home of the Samb ...

. He then did his L.L.B. from Lajpat Rai Law College in

. He practiced law for a brief period of time in

Odisha High Court The Orissa High Court is the High Court for the Indian state of Odisha. The then Bengal Presidency was a vast province including present day Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, and West Bengal. It was difficult to administratively manage such a ...

. As he studied in different parts of Odisha, it gave him the opportunity to learn the different dialects prevalent in different regions of

. He later did his PhD in

Odia literature Odia literature is literature written in the Odia language, mostly from the Indian state of Odisha. The modern Odia language is mostly formed from Tadbhava words with significant Sanskrit (Tatsama) influences, along with loanwoards from Desaj ...

from

Utkal University Utkal University (UU) is a Public university in Bhubaneswar, Khordha district, Khordha, Odisha, and is the oldest university in Odisha, the state, and the 17th-oldest university in India. It is a teaching-cum-affiliating university. The pre ...

in 1990.

Career

Gandhi's political career started as early as in his youth days when he was elected as the President of the Students Union at

Gangadhar Meher Swabhaba kabi Gangadhar Meher () was a renowned Odia language, Odia poet of the 19th century. Though poor in wealth and education, he remained one of the most prolific and original contributor to Odia literature. Childhood Gangadhara was born ...

College. He also served as the President of Students Union at L.R law college at

. During the 1969 historic students strike in

, Gandhi was appointed the chairman of the Western Odisha students action committee. He had conducted and participated in various strikes all over Odisha and was imprisoned several times for the same. Gandhi also wrote poems to mobilize the students, which earned him the titles of 'Rabi' and 'Gandhi'. Hussain with Frontier Gandhi

In 1985 he contested the state assembly elections from

Korai Kore (Greek: κόρη "maiden"; plural korai) is the modern term given to a type of free-standing ancient Greek sculpture of the Archaic period depicting female figures, always of a young age. Kouroi are the yo ...

constituency under the Jagrat Odisha party formed by the former chief minister of Odisha,

Nandini Satpathy Nandini Satpathy (9 June 1931 – 4 August 2006) was an Indian politician and author. She was the List of Chief Ministers of Odisha, Chief Minister of Odisha from June 1972 to December 1976. Early life Nandini Satpathy nee Panigrahi was bo ...

. In 1987

Vishwanath Pratap Singh Vishwanath Pratap Singh (25 June 1931 – 27 November 2008), shortened to V. P. Singh, was an Indian politician who was the 7th Prime Minister of India from 1989 to 1990 and the 41st Raja Bahadur of Manda. He is India's only prime minister to ...

, the former Prime Minister of India founded the

Jan Morcha The Jan Morcha (translation: ''People's Front'') was an Indian political party founded by V. P. Singh after he left the Indian National Congress party in 1987 upon being dismissed as Defence Minister by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Together ...

(The people's front), Gandhi served as the President of the party's regional youth branch in Odisha. Under the influence of

Biju Patnaik Bijayananda Patnaik (5 March 1916 – 17 April 1997) was an Indian politician, aviator and businessman. As politician, he served twice as the Chief Minister of the State of Odisha. Early life His parents lived in Bellaguntha, Ganjam distri ...

, Hussain joined the undivided

Janata Dal Janata Dal (“People’s Party”) was an List of political parties in India, Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Janata Party factions, the Lok Dal, Indian National Congress (Jagjivan), and the Jan Morcha united on 11 ...

in 1988 and was appointed the General secretary of the party by Pattnaik. In the 1989 General elections he was appointed the Vice Chairman of the campaign committee of the Janta Dal and finally in 1990, after the massive victory of the party in the state assembly elections, Hussain was appointed the chairman of Odisha state leather corporation Ltd by

. During his tenure (1990-1995), he expanded the tannery business and had increased the shoe production by establishing 13 shoe manufacturing units all over Odisha. In December 1997, the Janta Dal was divided and a new political party called the

was formed. Hussain was one among the founding members of the party along with

Dilip Ray Dilip Ray (born 9 January 1954) is an Indian politician and hotelier from the state of Odisha. He was formerly Union Minister of Steel, Coal and Parliamentary Affairs. Ray is the only Odia parliamentarian to be part of the Ministry of three Pri ...

Bijoy Mohapatra Bijoy Mohapatra (born 7 November 1950) is a politician from Odisha. A leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, he was Irrigation Minister of Odisha from 1990 to 1995 in the Biju Patnaik cabinet. He was the most powerful minister (known as Super ...

Prasanna Acharya Prasanna Acharya (born 8 August 1949) is a politician from Odisha, India who sits in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament. He is a member of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) political party. Career Acharya was a member of the n ...

, Ananga Udaya Singh Deo and Amar Sathpathy. In January 1998 he was appointed the General Secretary of the

by the current chief minister of Odisha,

Naveen Patnaik Naveen Patnaik (born 16 October 1946) is an Indian politician serving as the current and 14th Chief Minister of Odisha. He is also the president of the Biju Janata Dal, a writer and has authored three books. He is the longest-serving chief min ...

and had served as the party observer for Deogarh and Sambalpur elections. Gandhi was active in politics as a member of the Biju Janata Dal. Gandhi was also the co-founder secretary of Maulana Azad Multipurpose College,

. Gandhi was also active in Odia literary scene. He was associated with the movement to revive Revolutionary Humanism in Odia poetry. His published works included poetry collection ''Mukta Purbasha'', ''Loka Geeta'' and short story collection ''Ajira Galpa''. He was appointed the editor of ''Utkala Prasnga'', a cultural monthly published of

Government of Odisha The government of the Indian state of Odisha and its 30 districts consists of an executive, led by the Governor of Odisha, a judiciary, and a legislative branch. Like other states in India, the head of state of Odisha is the Governor, appoi ...

in 2010. Gandhi served as the Vice-President (2005-2008) and then the President of

Sahitya Akademi from 28 May 2008 to 27 May 2010. During his term the Odisha Sahitya Academy celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 22 districts of Odisha.

Personal life

Gandhi married Tabasum Amin Sultana, the granddaughter of the notable educationist and freedom fighter from

Sayeed Mohammed Sayeed Mohammed (1891 – 1922) was an Indian Odia educationist, freedom fighter and philanthropist. In 1913, he founded the Moslem Seminary (present day : Sayeed Seminary) at Cuttack, which is regarded as the second nationalist school of Odisha ...

Books

Kabya Gandhi authored 16 books including : *Mukta Purbasa *Singhasana Bhangiba Ra Karjyakrama *Niyanta Ratira Swapna *Binsa Ru Ek Binsa *Shabda Brahma *Lokageeta *Karna *Nijaku Khojuthiba Bele *Hajijaithiba Manisa *Punsacha Salabega *Kabi Manasare Gandhi *Lokageeta ''(2nd vol)'' *Punascha Salabega (''2nd Vol)'' *Mukta Purbasa ''(2nd Vol)'' Story *''Ajira Galpa'' *''Galpa Samaraha'' (was included in +2 M.I.L (Odia) Syllabus.) Gandhi also translated the Hindi novel "Rani Laxmi Bai" into Odia which was later published by National book trust of India in the year 2012.

Death

Gandhi died on 28 January 2023, at the age of 74. The

Chief Minister of Odisha The chief minister of Odisha, an Indian state, is the head of the Government of Odisha. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is the state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Followin ...

expressed his grief and said "''Late Gandhi was a veteran leader long associated with Biju Babu and later with Biju Janata Dal. He has contributed immensely in strengthening the BJD and promoted the values of Biju Babu and BJD. He was an established writer and contributed immensely for Odia literature. His death is a great loss to the state.''" The

Governor of Odisha The governor of Odisha is the head of state and representative of the president of India in the Indian state of Odisha. The governors have similar powers and functions at the state level as those of the President of India at centr ...

Ganeshi Lal Ganeshi Lal (born 1 March 1941) is an Indian politician and the incumbent Governor of Odisha. Personal life Professor Ganeshi Lal was born in Sirsa, Haryana on 1 March 1941. With a brilliant educational career, he holds a degree in English H ...

said "''I am deeply saddened by the death of noted poet, orator and politician Hussain Rabi Gandhi. His contribution to the enrichment of Odia literature is unbelievable.''" Gandhi's last rites were held at

Qadam e Rasool, Cuttack Qadam e Rasool (foot-print of Mohammed), situated at Cuttack, is a shrine and an important specimen of Mughal architecture in Odisha. In the Qadam Rasool premises are present numerous dargahs, two masjids, namely Moti Masjid and Qadam e Rasool ...

and was attended by several prominent personalities including, Subhash Chandra Singh, Bhabani Shankar Dayani, Pravat Biswal, Munna Khan, Prafulla Samal among others. While

Prasanna Kumar Patasani Prasanna Kumar Patasani (born 27 April 1946) is an Indian lawyer, philosopher, poet, and former member of Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament. He represented the Bhubaneswar constituency of Odisha from 1998 to 2019. He is the s ...

, Sujeet Kumar,

Pratap Jena Pratap Jena ( or, ପ୍ରତାପ ଜେନା) is an Indian politician and the Former Cabinet Minister in the Sixteenth Odisha Legislative Assembly with ''Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water, Law, Housing & Urban Development'' portfolios (2019� ...

, Naba Das, Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra,

Ramesh Chandra Majhi Ramesh Chandra Majhi (born 9 April 1978) is an Indian politician. He was elected to the Lok Sabha, lower house of the Parliament of India from Nabarangpur, Odisha in the 2019 Indian general election as a member of the Biju Janata Dal. He is ...

, Shashi Bhusan Behera, Sarmistha Sethi,

Bhajaman Behara Bhajaman Behara is an Indian politician, belonging to Janata Dal. In the 2009 election he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Dhenkanal in Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state ...

, Dinesh Sarangi,

Tathagata Satpathy Tathagata Satpathy (born 1 April 1956) was a member of the 12th, 14th, 15th and 16th Lok Sabha of India. He represented the Dhenkanal constituency of Odisha, India, Odisha, and was re-elected for the fourth time in 2014. He was a member of the ...

and other leaders reached out to the family to pay their condolences.

Bibliography

* * * * * * *

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gandhi, Hussain Rabi 1948 births 2023 deaths People from Jajpur district Odia-language writers Indian male short story writers 20th-century Indian short story writers Poets from Odisha 20th-century Indian male writers Amin family Biju Janata Dal politicians Indian politicians