In the body of his essay, Dr. Patnaik says, “There should be Orissa wide policy on languages. It is essential that regions should develop their own identity. Such identity should be respected…..” This is a welcome suggestion. He continues, “ In Odisha, there is plenty of opportunity for leadership in being involved in the educational field of bi-lingual and multi-lingual education.” This is a wise observation, and the Odisha government should take it seriously. In a democracy, access to education as well as all the public services should be accessible to all citizens irrespective of language spoken; geography lived in, religion adopted, or any other similar barriers. For generations Koshalis have been disadvantaged in more ways than one, especially in the field of education, simply because they speak a different language, and live in different region Persistent efforts have been made to marginalise Koshali language, and it has been disconnected with education. So Dr. Patnaik’s suggestion should be taken seriously by the policy makers.
I do have concern over his statement when he says,” If such regional identity leads to division of the state, this tendency should be vigorously resisted”. For far too long due recognition of Koshali has not been given to Koshalis because many well- known coastal intellectuals have argued that such recognition will lead to regionalism, and eventual division of the state. Koshali was simply relegated as a dialect of Odia. Right now there is a growing movement for separation because of serious inter-regional imbalance combined with non-abating continuous trend to concentrate most of the resources in the sixty mile zone in the coastal area. Non-recognition of Koshali language is one of many reasons why separation movement is gaining momentum. Unless this issue is resolved, there would be continuous state of turmoil in the province.
So Quo Vadis from here ? In my humble opinion, once one accepts the obvious reality that Odisha is a multi-lingual state with two major languages, then one should give Koshali the same stutus as Odia and adjust the delivery of public services including education not only in Odia and Koshali but also in indigenous languages where these two major languages are not spoken. The government should also move fast in facilitating the inclusion of Koshali in the 8th schedule.
