Bhubaneswar, May 5: Biju Janata Dal's Rajya Sabha MP Baishnab Charan Parida plans to send at least one lakh postcards to chief minister Naveen Patnaik urging him to give due recognition to Odia language.
Parida is the convenor of Odia Bhasa Surakshya Samiliani, a body working for the promotion of Odia language in the state.
Parida told The Telegraph: "I am now touring the state. Through our organisation we are planning to send one lakh postcards to the chief minister for promoting Odia. We have already posted about ten thousand postcards in the last 10 days. The drive will continue till we achieve the target. The chief minister's office has also received the postcards already sent by us."
The postcards plead for due recognition to the language, which is one of the oldest.
The postcards also point out how during the tenure of former chief minister Nabakrushna Choudhury, who served the state between 1950 and 1956, Odia language had gained the status of official language of the state.
"But even after 68 years of Independence, the state government has failed to give it due recognition. The administration is still using English that will hit the growth of Odia language," he said.
In order to put pressure on the chief minister to make administrative implementation of Odia as the official language, Parida said his organisation would stage a demonstration outside the Assembly during its next session.
"Nearly three thousands intellectuals from different walks of life will join the demonstration," he said.
Parida said if the state government did not rise to the occasion, it would be hard to stop pro-Odia youths from blackening signboards written in English outside office buildings, something that was being done since April 1 by youths affiliated to various organisations.
"I had already taken up this issue with chief secretary Gokul Chandra Pati this week. He assured me to look into it," said Parida. Stating that no political colour should be given to this, Parida said his organisation during its conference last November had passed a resolution urging the government to work towards according Odia the status of official language.
To encourage the use of the language, the conference had passed a resolution requesting the government to recruit those who completed their studies in the Odia medium.
The outspoken MP had shot into limelight last year when he cited Mahatma Gandhi's famous quote about ruler knowing the language of the ruled.
"Whoever is the ruler should know the language of the ruled. Otherwise he cannot rule the people. It's because of our language that we are a separate state. It's the language and culture that is the life and blood of a community," he had said citing Gandhi.
This was interpreted as a dig at chief minister Naveen Patnaik, whose knowledge of Odia remains less than satisfactory.
However, the MP later clarified that that he had no intention of hurting the sentiment of the chief minister.
Parida had said: "I have all regards for the chief minister and don't intend to belittle anyone. It is not a crime to suggest to him to learn the language. If one does not know the language, it will be difficult for him to understand the language of the common people."
