The public library conference hall here witnessed a delicate situation on Monday evening when the participants in a seminar tore up questionnaire papers and protested the attitude of the organiser. The seminar’s theme was “Necessity for a separate State”, but the atmosphere changed due to an anti-Sambalpuri attitude of the organiser.
As per information, weekly newspaper ‘Paschimanchal’ founded by Baidyanath Mishra organised the discussion on necessity for a separate State where eminent personalities attended. Former VC of Berhampur University Prof Aditya Prasad Padhi was the chief speaker.
Prof Padhi said if there would be uniformity in development, then there would be no necessity for a separate State. “Proper leadership and right planning for the development of the backward region can put an end to such demand,” he clarified.
But all on a sudden, there was a twist in the subject when organiser Mishra, who himself is a supporter of a separate State demand, distributed a questionnaire asking what would be the language if a separate State is created. There were three options: Odia, Koshali-Sambalpuri and Koshali.
And there began a chaos. Seeing ‘Koshali’ as one of the answers, the intelligentsia present raised strong objections as the language of western Odisha is ‘Sambalpuri’ and not ‘Koshali.’ They also tore the questionnaire papers to vent their resentment.
Former MP and former MlA Balgopal Mishra also joined voice with the people saying, “There is no language called Koshali. The language of western Odisha is Sambalpuri since time immemorial.”
“The people of this region from Sambalpur, Balangir, Kalahandi to Sundargarh give their identity as ‘Sambalpuria’,” Mishra asserted.