KEONJHAR: Tuesday was a historic day in the lives of lakhs of Oriyas living in Jharkhand. The Jharkhand cabinet approved Oriya and five other regional languages of Jharkhand as the second official language. "It is the happiest moment for me and thousands of people speaking Oriya and other regional languages in Jharkhand. Many times in the past we had put forth the demand for the second official language," Manoharpur MLA Gurucharan Naik told TOI over phone.
On Monday, hundreds of Oriya-speaking people and supporters led by Utkal Sammilani staged a demonstration in front of the Jharkhand assembly demanding declaration of Oriya as second official language. They had also given memoranda to the Speaker of Jharkhand assembly C P Singh, chief minister Arjun Munda and deputy chief minister Hemant Soren. Naik had put forth the demand in front of the cabinet.
"It is a win for the Oriya-speaking people living in Jharkhand since years and those involved in the linguistic movement. We are thankful to the Jharkhand government and also all who supported and got involved in the linguistic movement," president of Utkal Sammilani (West Singhbhum) Saroj Kumar Pradhan said.
Since the last five years two chief ministers of Jharkhand had assured to accord the status to Oriya but had not fulfilled the demand. So members of Utkal Sammilani staged the dharna on Monday. Lakhs of Oriya-speaking people live in 10 districts of Jharkhand like East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum, Sareikela-Kharasuan, Ranchi, Gumla, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Simdega, Lahardega and Latehar. But Oriya has long been neglected by the neighbouring state. Even many Oriya schools have been closed down.
Source : The Times of India, September 1, 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment