A day after he apologised for his derogatory remarks on Odisha and Odia people, Justice Markandeya Katju on Saturday regarded Odias as “smart people with a sense of humour”.
Katju posted this in his Facebook account and blog after he received a bouquet of flowers and a note from the Delhi Odia Students' Association at his residence in Noida on the day. The note mentioned, “Get well soon, Mr Katzu.”
Katju posted, “Odias, you would be happy to know that my opinion about you has changed. While earlier I regarded most of you as stupid and humourless, now I regard you as smart and with a sense of humour (as all intelligent people have).”
"I was having lunch with my wife when my servant informed me that some young men had come to meet me. I told him to ask them to be seated in my sitting room. The domestic help went out, and within a minute, came back with a large beautiful bouquet of flowers, and a note," Katju said.
Katju too posted 'Jai Jagannath', 'Hari Om' in the end.
Meanwhile, a senior Odisha IPS Officer, Arup Patnaik, who is son-in-law of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, stated that Katju did all this in a planned way.
"Had he talked against Jats in Punjab and Marathis in front of Uddhav and Raj Thackeray, what would have been the impact is known to all. He made derogative remarks on Odias knowingly," said Patnaik.