Subhas Chandra Pattanayak
A government-insider gives me the real reason of why Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik promulgated an Ordinance on 21 May 2016 to insert Sec.5, as proposed in my draft legislation, by amending the Orissa Official Language Act, 1954, the very next day of the Assembly standing proprogued.
To our assumption so far, it was Bhasha Andolan that had forced the Govt. to bend. “This is partially correct, but not the major truth”, he says. Had the CM cared for the campaign, a Bill in this regard could have been moved in the Assembly during the session”, he maintains. Then, what is the reason? -I ask. “Your interview to Metro Tv”, he says.
The representative of Metro Tv Bureau, Sri Debasis Behura had interviewed me in my study on 11 May 2016, which as per this information, the Inelligence had brought to the attention of the CM on May 16 and its impact had made the CM ask immidiately as to what extent my proposal could be accommodated.
Taking advantage of this eagerness of the CM, my friend informs, the mandarines of whom he was also a part,cooked up a conspiracy to foil my proposed Legislation and created a confusing climate, wherein the CM would know that my proposal was being given the legal form, but, in reality, he would stay too confused to read the buearocratic agenda of drafting the matter for an Ordinance, instead of a Bill in the Assembly. And, therefore, he says, the Ordinance was a masterpiece of manipulation wherein Section 4 (1) of my proposed legislation, after due vetting by the Law department, got numbered as Section 5 and an unauthorised text was placed in Sec.4 created by the Ordinance by tampering the Law department’s approval.
Though I have demanded repeal of this Section 4 because of its questionable tenor, and my friends in Bhasha Andolan had stood with me till they succumbed to their own avarice and Supari from the CM, this reason of insertion of Section 4 in the Ordinance was a secret, which this friend has unveiled.
In view of this, the Metro TV interview has immense historical importance in the life of Oriya as Official Language and needs be preserved.
It needs be noted that, my version in Capital Khatti – a milestone depiction in support of Black Flag Campaign – was severely tampered with and finally suppressed by Kalinga TV, its owner, for reasons best known to the channel. Had I not put it on youtube.com before the channel played the mischief, I am afraid this important episode would certainly have been lost to the public.
With this experience in mind, I have taken this Metro Tv interview into the YouTube channel of ORISSA MATTERS, yesterday. While doind so, I have updated its content in its analytics to the effect that, the resolution moved by Pt. Laxminarayan Mishra in the Assembly on 1 April 1948 was not pressed by him due to the stiff opposition from the Mahtab-led interim Government, the living spirit of which had led to enactment of Orissa Official Language Act, in the First Assembly after enforcement of the Constitution of India.
Here is this historic interview: