Sambalpur, Dec 29: The Sambalpur Kudopali incident of 1857 was no less than the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, said Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan while releasing the book 'The Saga of Kudopali: The Unsung Story of 1857' in Sambalpur on Sunday.

The book was released at a commemorative meeting held in memory of 57 martyrs, including Veer Chhabila Sai.

On December 30, 1857, 53 fighters were martyred in a daring battle with the British at Kudopali Ghat in Sambalpur and four were later sentenced to death, the Minister said. Many other families of Khinda, Ghens, Kulabira, and Lakhanpur made sacrifices but this was unknown to many. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for bringing unsung freedom strugglers to light. Now the ICHR and the National Book Trust Have brought out a valuable book on the unsung heroes. The Union Minister thanked the ICHR and the NBT.

Pradhan said efforts are on to publish the book 'The Saga of Kudopali: The Unsung Story of 1857' in Hindi. The Hindi version of the book will also be available at the upcoming book fair in Delhi. He advised the NBT to translate the book into 10 languages and publish them.

"Today's book will take the story of Kudopali's sacrifice and heroism to every corner of the world. This book will bring national recognition to the glory of Odisha, which is untouched in the pages of history," the Union Minister said and hoped that such historical facts would continue to come.