As many as 31 activists of the Bhasha Suraksha Sammilani were courted arrest at Chhatrapur while participating in civil disobedience movement demanding constitution of a language Commission and legislation of punishment provisions for proper implementation of the Odisha Official language Act 1954.
Hundreds of writers, litterateurs, intellectuals, political leaders, lawyers, students and common people participated in the movement.
“The State Government isn’t forming a language Commission as the Chief Minister doesn’t know Odia. If the Odisha Official language Act is not implemented properly, the Odia language will be vanished soon,” said Sammilani’s Ganjam district organisation president Rabi Rath.
The agitators moved in a rally from Chhatrapur bus stand to the Collectorate. As they tried to break police cordon, cops arrested 31 of them. They were later released.
Among others, secretary Akash Patnaik, State vice-president Dandapani Mohapatra, Chhatrapur Bar Association president Gokul Chandra Panda, BJP leader Pradeep Padhi, litterateur Dr Chandramani Swain, Dr Sribatsa Dalai, Raju Amin Khan, Sharat Chandra Padhi, Tripati Rao, laxmi Narayan Panda, Bijay Das, Bijay Muduli, Bhramarbar Das, journalist Madhab Panigrahi and Bijay Pradhan participated.