Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday graced the 11th Odisha Literary Festival with the theme – ‘Ideas of Identity’.
Speaking on the occasion, Patnaik said, “History, geography, society, prosperity… What defines us? In this age of binaries, we are expected to be one or the other.”
“But that is not something Odias appreciate. We have so many identities and we celebrate them all. However, I believe, a society’s identity is defined by its core values, the Chief Minister said, adding, The historical Odisha is defined by the Kalinga War. The determination to fight to the finish changed the course of history. It spread the message of peace and non-violence. That is what Odisha continues to stand for even today. The glorious era of emperor Kharavela re-established our identity as a vibrant society.”
According to Patnaik, there was a time, when Odisha was separated in many administrative blocks. “While we displayed immense courage for formation of a state on the basis of our linguistic identity, we sorted out a long complicated issue by providing a simple solution for formation of states in independent India. There was a time when some didn’t consider Odia as a separate language. Today it is a recognised classical language.”
“The spiritual Odisha is deeply embedded in the worship of Lord Jagannath. The Jagannath culture is a narrative of our values in respecting all religions, all cultures. Odisha’s social cohesion is among the strongest. We are proud of this great social wealth,” the Chief Minister observed.
“The contemporary Odisha, with the experience of the past, looks to take a transformative dive to the future. The process of creating the identity of a forward looking modern society in Odisha with all our basic ideologies intact is on.”
“We are transforming our society. Our education, our healthcare, our agriculture… everything is witnessing a paradigm shift on the foundation of a transformative governance. Our women feel empowered, delivering strong leadership in every part of our society. Our people are more confident of their future now than they were ever before. This new found self-confidence is generating another core value of our society leading to Ama Odisha Naveen Odisha.”
“New ideas will help us navigate to the future. They are bits of our greater socio-economic and cultural identity. Peace, non-violence and social cohesion will remain our eternal values as the roots of our growing identity,” Patnaik said.
“I believe the past two days have seen many discussions around our politics, our faiths, our ideas and ideologies,” Patnaik remarked, adding, “It is this spirit that Odisha upholds and I am hoping that The New Indian Express will continue to keep this tradition of dialogue alive in our city and state.”
