On Wednesday, a bandh was called in Sambalpur to protest the demand for statehood for western Odisha and the establishment of a High Court bench in the district.
All government and private offices, as well as courts, banks, financial institutions, and business establishments, remained closed during the dawn-to-dusk bandh called by the Sambalpur Nagarik Kriyanusthan Committee. Picketing agitators disrupted vehicular traffic throughout the city. However, educational institutions were exempt from the bandh.
Deepak Panda, a committee member, stated that the people of western Odisha have been calling for the establishment of a High Court bench in Sambalpur for over 50 years. However, it is still unfulfilled. The state government has failed to respond to the request for a comprehensive proposal for the establishment of a High Court bench in Sambalpur. “The state government’s dithering has made people realise that only a separate statehood for western Odisha can resolve development issues in the region,” he said.
Panda claims that the demand for separate statehood for western Odisha has evolved into a movement. It is not the demand of a single organization, but of thousands of people in the region willing to fight for it. “Our agitation over the demand for a separate state will grow stronger and intensify in the coming days,” he warned.
Aside from statehood and a High Court bench, the agitators also demanded that the Sambalpuri language be included in the Constitution’s eighth schedule. Aside from that, they demanded that the installation of water metres and smart pre-paid electric metres be halted in Sambalpur. The protesters claimed that Sambalpur is being used as a testing ground for such experiments, and they warned that if the government wants to install the metres, it should begin in other districts first.
Saroj Dash, co-convener of the committee, informed that over 50 Sambalpur social organisations, including the Sambalpur District Bar Association, Koshal Byabasayi Sangha, Paschim Odisha Krishak Sangathan Surakhya Samiti, and others, had expressed support for the bandh.
Prasanta Patnaik