Niranjan’s personal letter to Odisha Intelligentsia: Requests intellectuals to take a clear stand to save Odia language

 

Bhubaneswar, 15/7 ( Odisha Samachar Bureau ) -  Former Minister and senior Congress leader Shri Niranjan Patnaik on Monday sent an appeal to eminent Odia writers, academics, former Civil servants, jurists, dancers, artists requesting them to take a clear public stand on Naveen Pattnaik’s refusal to learn Odia after 14 years in power. “Saving Odia is not the responsibility of politicians and political parties alone. It is a national duty and far too important to be left to the vagaries of the political realm.” Among the members of the State Intelligentsia who Niranjan Pattnaik has written to are Janpith awardees Sitakanta Mohapatra, Prativa Ray, writers Bibhuti Pattnaik, Satkadi Hota, film personalities A.K. Bir, Prasanta Nanda, former diplomat Lalit Mansingh, artist Padmabibhusan Raghunath Mohapatra, Padmashree Chaturbhuja Meher, activist Padmashree Tulsi Munda, musician Prafulla Kar and a virtual who’s who of the State’s cultural and academic icons.

The intelligentsia in Odisha should not acquiesce to the decline in Odia language by remaining silent any more. “We today face a situation akin to the period prior to 1936 when the very survival of Odia language had become an important concern of the Odia nation. One shudders to think of the future of our language and literature. Undoubtedly, Odia is no longer the language of choice of the aristocratic and upper segment of society and much of the middle class. The use of the language is beginning to decline rapidly.”

When India was under British rule, the leadership for the freedom movement was provided by lawyers, writers and intellectuals of eminence. If they had kept quiet who would have taken the leadership of the freedom movement? Similarly the leadership for Utkal Sammilani came from the intelligentsia like lawyers, writers and journalists. If eminent intellectuals like Mdhasudan, Fakirmohan, Gaurisankar, Gopabandhu, Godabarisha, Krushna Chandra Gajapati et al had shied away from assuming leadership, possibly Odia language would have lost its identity.

Expressing his serious concern about the future of Odia language, Shri Patnaik said, “My impression is that Odia language and culture is going through a period of acute crisis. Present generation of children is unable to speak and write in Odia properly. The dream with which the state of Odisha was visualised lies in tatters. The entire middle class send their children to English medium schools. Our children should develop excellent skills in the English language, but a generation not respecting the mother tongue does not augur well for the future of the language. I can clearly see a dark future for Odia language and culture that a previous generation of intelligentsia had struggled to save prior to 1936.”

In his letter, Shri Patnaik mentioned that it is such an irony that the Odisha CM does not know the language even after ruling for past 14 years and, despite the fact that Odisha was the first state to be created on linguistic basis. “There is a seeming impression because of the silent multitudes that the issue hurts no one if the CM does not know Odia or reads out a distorted version of the language in a rather comical tone. You will agree with me that such a situation where the head of a democratically elected government does not know the language of the state has not been seen anywhere in the world, Shri Patnaik averred.

Shri Patnaik said that there is no nation in the world where the intelligentsia would have kept quiet for so long and allowed the nation to drift to an unknown future. “A person who does not know English would never be allowed to become the Prime Minister of England neither a person not knowing French can become the French President. The same is true for every other country. Even within India, the Bengali’s will never accept a person not knowing Bengali to be Chief Minister of Bengal? Similarly, people of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh or Kerala will not tolerate such disdain for their language,” Shri Patnaik added.

He has hoped that Odish’a intelligentsia will enter into deep introspection and take a public stand on the issue. “We should be for once be feeling compelled to let our views be known in public. You should request the Chief Minister to learn the language or abdicate his chair. Your silence or private criticism will not be good enough response to this deep crisis engulfing the state. As you know no one can be a Sarpanch without knowing the official language of the state. But, we have all jointly and severally tolerated a person not-knowing our language to be the Chief Minister for a long 14 years. How much longer should you be quietly watching from the sidelines of the state’s political firmament?”

Sri pattnaik has said that Odisha’s intelligentsia should take charge of the situation and lead the people in this hour of crisis by providing direction and leadership and not let the destiny of the language be decided by any historical accident or cultural weakness.

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