12-hour bandh for Santhali varsity cripples Baripada

BALASORE: Life came to a standstill in Baripada and its surrounding areas on Tuesday as the result of a 12-hour dawn-to-dusk bandh staged by Mayurbhanj Adivasi Revolutionary Youth and Student Association (Marysa) to press for the establishment of a Santhali University in Mayurbhanj district.
Shops, business establishments, educational institutions, courts and government and private offices were closed as the agitators resorted to picketing and blocked the NH-18 at Murgabadi and Palbani by placing burning tyres on it. This affected traffic in the area and hundreds of vehicles were stranded on either side of the highway for hours. Train services were affected as activists squatted on railway tracks at Baripada. Private and government buses remained off the roads.

Dharamraj Hansdah, president of Marysa, said, "Santhali is widely spoken in Odisha. Like the proposed Odia University to be set up in Puri, the state government should establish a Santhali University in Mayurbhanj for the development of the language."

The activist threatened to intensify the agitation if the government did not pay heed to the demand.

The Adibasi Student Association, which has been demanding a permanent building to house the Santali Training Centre and publication of books in the language, also extended support to the bandh.

The language protests have gained momentum in Mayurbhanj over the past couple of days after the Odisha Primary Education Programme Authority did not include Santhali in its Ujjwal Programme recently. The programme is aimed at boosting the quality of primary education in the state.