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When in the British Raj Oriya language was threatened with extinction due to conspiracy of non-Oriya native servants of the mandarins from England, it is the authors of Orissa who woke up to the situation and forced the foreign rulers to create this province by honoring the people’s birthright to have official management of their affairs in their mother tongue.
After independence, despite creation and promulgation of Orissa Official Language Act (hereinafter called the Act) in 1954, our language is threatened with extinction by constant disuse in administration of the State, as non-Oriya functionaries rule the roost.
It is a matter of alarming concern and shame that our authors are showing no interest in saving our language from irrelevance, even as the Bhasha Andolan, addressed only to use of Oriya in governance of Orissa, has exceeded 1600 days and the Govt. run by fellows of anglicized mentality are keeping the Act defunct.
The authors are enriching our literature, no doubt; but literature cannot save a language from death, as has been seen in Pali and Sanskrit becoming dead languages due to disuse in governance.
These and many relevant observations come from Prof. Ashok Maharana, when on the 2nd November he addressed live from the digital platform of Black-Flag-Campaign (Bhasha Andolan).
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