TNI Bureau: Bhasa Andolan Odisha observed the ‘Odia Sarakari Bhasa Dibasa’ (Odia Official Language Day) on August 18.
The long-standing struggle to make “Odia” the mother tongue of the first linguistic state of India began during the British rule. The British government opposed the imposition of Hindi in the western part of Odisha, Bengali in the coastal region and Telugu in the south, and a new linguistic region of “Odisha” was formed.
For the first time in this Odisha region, Bargarh MLA Pandit Laxminarayan Mishra had proposed in the Assembly on April 1, 1948, but it could not be passed. In 1954, former Chief Minister Nabakrushna Choudhuri introduced the Language Act, but since its regulations were not made, the Language Act could not be implemented legalised.
Therefore, the Bhasa Andolan Odisha launched a language movement and protested by holding a black flag campaign from 13 April, 2016 to 19 September, 2018. It demanded the amendment of the language Act and publication of regulations to punish the violators of the use of “Odia in Odisha” rule.
The government amended the Act and declared Odia as the official language on 17 August, 2019 and those who violate this law will be punished according to the government law, and Odisha language was considered the official language from the day it was published in the gazette. For this reason, we are celebrating today as ‘Odia Sarakari Bhasa Dibasa’ (Odia Official Language Day).
In view of this, the Bhasa Andolan Odisha paid paid tributes to the language warriors who participated in the 878-day movement, the language law maker Nabakrushna Choudhuri and the Odisha maker Utkal Gaurav Madhusudhan Das.
With this, the Bhasa Andolan Odisha also reminded the state government to strictly implement the law to punish the individuals who don’t comply with the Odia in Odisha rule. Bhasa Andolan Odisha Convener Pabitra Maharatha coordinated the event and urged the government not to show any leniency on this matter.
Prominent language activists including Ashish Bebarta, Apollo Sethi, Nabakishore Pradhan, Narayan Khuntia, Bishwaraj Nayak, Satya Ranjan Swain, Manas Bastia, B Muralidhar, Manoj Nayak, Nilmani Mishra, Sagar Satapathy, Sarada Prasad Mohapatra joined the programme held with the theme ‘An Hour for the Language.”