Orissa Government continued to contravene Orissa Official Language Act, enforced since 1954 as the language for "all and any official purpose". After all agitations in demands of its implementation failed, journalist Subhas Chandra Pattanayak formulated a legislation for punishment to whosoever contravenes the Act and a group of media persons such as Pradyumna Satpathy, Tusarkanta Satpathy, Pabitra Maharatha and Sagar Satpathy vowed to support him and together they built up an unique movement styled BHASA ANDOLAN, ORISSA in which, each day since Orissa's New Year's Day (April 13, 2016) a group of four eminent Oriyas silently marched on the power belt of the capital city of Orissa with black flags. This unique movement forced the government to bend and to amend the Act of 1954, a prerequisite to accept the Draft Rules for punishment against the Act's contravention, as submitted by Sri Pattanayak. The CM declared that the Act shall certainly be enforced with the demanded provisions by August 15. 

BHASA ANDOLAN reciprocated the government decision with postponement of its agitation till Agust 15 and convened all participants in black-flag march as well as its activists to an evening get-together in which the strongest supporter of the Andolan Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, editor of Sambad and founder chief of Ama Odisha addressed the gathering. This is the record of his speech. It is of immense historical value and ORISSA MATTERS preserves it for the posterity and in interest of living history of Orissa.



Sambad Editor Soumya Ranjan Patnaik on Bhasa Andolan

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak