Bhubaneswar, Feb 14 (PTI) What exactly does ‘Odia Asmita’ (pride) mean? This question was raised by opposition BJD MLA Arun Kumar Sahoo in the Assembly.
The BJP used ‘Odia asmita’, among other planks, during electioneering last year and emerged victorious, defeating the BJD which was in power in Odisha for 24 years in a row. Sahoo, a former higher education minister, asked, “What is the meaning of Odia Asmita as per the dictionary and how to explain it?” In his written reply, Culture Minister Suryabanshi Suraj said that according to Odia dictionary, the word ‘Asmita’ conveys concepts of self-awareness, ‘I’ ness, and an understanding of one’s Unique existence.
The minister said the definition has been obtained from the Odia dictionary published by the Odisha Sahitya Akademi, under the purview of the Department of Odia Language, Literature, and Culture of the state government. The dictionary was first published in 2017 and re-issued in 2020, during the BJD tenure.
However, the BJD leader was not satisfied with the reply.
“The explanation does not fully address the question about the term’s implications,” Sahoo said.
The BJD leader said that he got a partial reply to the question and will wait for the full answer of the term.
On the BJD MLA’s dissatisfaction, the minister said, “I have presented the reply on ‘Asmita’ by referring to the official Odia dictionary which has been prepared by a government agency. It’s not possible for me to further explain ‘Asmita’ by writing.” Odia ‘Asmita’ is something that is to be felt in the Odia art, culture, language, tradition and development, he said adding it “is not a matter to be made a political issue. It is something much broader.” PTI AAM NN
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