Earlier today, a group of Kosalis living in and around Raipur of Chattisgarh assembled in Raipur today and demonstrated demanding separate Kosal state. Most of the folks are Kosalis who are migrated from Kosal region to Raipur area. This support of NRK (Non-Resident-Kosalis) has fueled fire in the separate state demand on the celebration eve of Utkal Divas or Odisha Pradesh constitution day.
Dr Arjun Purohit, a Canada based NRK says in an e-mail exchange, “Interesting! It had to happen. Huge chunk of Koshali speaking population live in Chhattisgarh. This is the predictable consequence of not having Whole-Odisha-centric, rather than just BBSR-centric mindset of mandarins and coastal based Odia intelligentsia. This has been the de facto Mantra which has shaped Odisha as it currently is. It has taken 72 years for Koshalis to shift their identity away from Odia Jati. If the state continues to observe Utkala Divas instead of Odisha Divas, the shift in identity will be complete and inevitable political consequence will follow.”