Bhubaneswar: The row over 'Hindi imposition' on non-Hindi speaking regions deepened further in Odisha with HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar taking a jibe at BJD MP Tathagat Satpathy over his reply in Odia to Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar’s Hindi letter.
Javadekar who arrived here to attend the convocation of Sri Sri University and party executive meet today took a dig at the BJD leader saying he should first write in Odia to his non-Odia speaking CM.
"It could have been better if he writes in Odia to his Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who his unable to speak his State language even after 17 years of rule," Javadekar told media soon after landing in Bhubaneswar.
Tomar who also arrived in Bhubaneswar later for party’s State executive meet reacted to Tathagat’s letter before media in a similar tone.
“I had not expected such reaction from my friend Tathagat. I could have immediately acted on his letter with the help of any Odia friend. I thank him for making me aware, but he should teach Odia to his CM first,” he told newsmen.
The language row started on Friday when Tomar wrote to Satpathy in Hindi inviting him to a programme and the Dhenkanal MP gave a tongue-in-cheek reply by writing back in Odia expressing his inability to comprehend the minister’s Hindi letter.
The Lok Sabha member on Friday had tweeted on Tomar's letter “Why are Union Ministers forcing Hindi on non Hindi speaking Indians? Is this an attack on other languages?”
Satpathy had further pointed out “I would also like to state that our state Odisha falls in the ‘C’ category so kindly send us letter in English or Odia.”