Madhusudan_Das

214 Madhusudan Das :
though besides legal practice he was associated with the Orissa
Association and other elite circles to promote the cause of social welfare.
He was deeply concerned at the political dismemberment of the Oriya
speaking tracts and was convinced that their amalgamation under one
administration alone would help to mitigate the gross injustice done to
the people. In public meetings and through the Utkal Deepika he pleaded
for uniting the Ganjam and Sambalpur tracts with the Orissa Division
to ensure the safety of Oriya language and culture. He presented a
Memorandum to the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal during the latter's
visit to Cuttack in 1885. He joined the Indian National Congress with
a view to highlight the problems of the Oriya people in an all-India
forum. Not that the British bureaucracy was unware of the desirability
of such amalgamation : Lord Northcote, the Secretary of State for India
and Mr. Cooke, the Commissioner of Orissa Division, had categorically
recommended for creating a homogenous administrative unit for more
effective administration, but nothing was done to implement that. On
the other hand, the Chief Commissioner of the Central Provinces
resolved in 1895 to abolish Oriya as an official language in Sambalpur
district substituting it by Hindi.
The language crisis in Sambalpur precipitated a popular agitation
leading to mass meetings, delegations to the Chief Commissioner and
the Viceroy, submission of Memorials and protests through the press.
Madhusudan wrote series of articles against the impolitic nature of the
government decision and urged upon the Viceroy, to revoke such orders.
In a meeting with Lord Curzon in December 1900 he impressed upon
the Viceroy the linguistic and cultural distinctiveness of the Oriyaspeaking
people and the justification of giving them an identity, through
amalgamation. Curzon was undoubtedly convinced. He solved the
language crisis of Sambalpur by restoring Oriya as the official language.
The Risley circular issued under his behest accepted the principle of
linguistic affinity as a basis for creating homogenous political units in
India for more efficient administration and suggested the amalgamation
of scattered Oriya speaking tracts under Bengal. In 1905 Sambalpur
was amalgamated with Orissa Division but Ganjam could not be
separated from Madras on account of stiff opposition of the Madras
Government.