Source:Orissadiary.com,Saturday, February 13, 2010
Rourkela: The long-awaited Intercity Express train between Rourkela and Bhubaneswar chugged out from Rourkela Railway Station at 3.21 pm instead of the scheduled 3 pm amid political drama on Saturday. Protests marked the launch of Rourkela-Bhubaneswar Intercity Express here on Saturday as a number of culture enthusiasts cast aspersions at Union Railway Minister, Mamata Banerjee for 'insulting' the Oriya language.
Taking umbrage at an invitation card which was printed in English and Bangla, the protestors rushed to the station and shouted slogans demanding an apology from Mamata Banerjee.
"The regional language should always find place beside Hindi and English languages. But shockingly, the invitation card was printed sans Oriya despite knowing the fact that the function was held in Orissa," said Bhabagrahi Mohapatra, president of Utkal Sammilani that spearheaded the protest in the Rourkela railway station. Even names of local MP Hemananda Biswal and local MLAs Sharada Nayak and Subrat Tarai were also missing from the invitation cards.
After much dilly-dallying, it had initially been decided that the train would be flagged off on February 13 by the Railway Minister from Midnapur which would be displayed on TV monitor at Rourkela station and the Chakradharpur DRM would follow the suit. But, on February 12 it was decided that instead of the DRM, the Sundargarh MP Hemanand Biswal and Civil Supply Minister Sarada Nayak would jointly flag off the train. Rourkela: The long-awaited Intercity Express train between Rourkela and Bhubaneswar chugged out from Rourkela Railway Station at 3.21 pm instead of the scheduled 3 pm amid political drama on Saturday. Protests marked the launch of Rourkela-Bhubaneswar Intercity Express here on Saturday as a number of culture enthusiasts cast aspersions at Union Railway Minister, Mamata Banerjee for 'insulting' the Oriya language.
Taking umbrage at an invitation card which was printed in English and Bangla, the protestors rushed to the station and shouted slogans demanding an apology from Mamata Banerjee.
"The regional language should always find place beside Hindi and English languages. But shockingly, the invitation card was printed sans Oriya despite knowing the fact that the function was held in Orissa," said Bhabagrahi Mohapatra, president of Utkal Sammilani that spearheaded the protest in the Rourkela railway station. Even names of local MP Hemananda Biswal and local MLAs Sharada Nayak and Subrat Tarai were also missing from the invitation cards.
After much dilly-dallying, it had initially been decided that the train would be flagged off on February 13 by the Railway Minister from Midnapur which would be displayed on TV monitor at Rourkela station and the Chakradharpur DRM would follow the suit. But, on February 12 it was decided that instead of the DRM, the Sundargarh MP Hemanand Biswal and Civil Supply Minister Sarada Nayak would jointly flag off the train.
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