4th International Mother Language Conclave LangFest-2018″ held in Delhi

ONI Bureau: The 4th International Mother Language Conclave “AMARI BHASHA PATHE-4″; Lang Fest-2018” has been successfully concluded at IIC, New Delhi on Sunday.

On that occasion, PRABASI BHASHA SAMMAN for 2018 was conferred to 13 eminent personalities. The LangFest also celebrated the 4th anniversary of the classical language status to Odisha.

The Mother Tongue Conclave or LangFest 2018 also had youth sessions, display of arts and movies from Odisha. Several panel discussions were held on the topics of ‘Classical Status of Indian Languages; Changes, Opportunities & Task Ahead’, ‘Making Mother Tongue the Language of Profession’, ‘Mother Tongue; beyond the identity politics’ and ‘Role of Popular Culture in shaping a language’.

Rajya Sabha MP AV Swamy, former Rajya Sabha MP and Language Activist Ramachandra Khuntia and several eminent personalities attended the event. Dr. Bhagaban Prakash, Chairman, Organising Committee of LangFest 2018, gave the introductory as well as concluding remarks. Convener Debendra Nath Rout, man behind The Intellects, gave the Vote of Thanks apart from conducting the event successfully. Amarendra Khatua, Ex-Secretary, MEA, Govt. of India also graced the occasion and monitored the entire event.

Vice Chancellor of Odisha Central University, Dr. Sachidananda Mohanty, President of Linguistic Society of India, Dr. Panchanan Mohanty also took part in the panel discussions.

Prof. B. N. Patnaik (IIT Kanpur), Prof. G.C. Pant (Jamia Millia Islamia University) Sanskrit, Prof. Purusotam Billimale (JNU) Kannada, Prof. E. Mularidaharan (DU) Telugu, Prof. Krishan Unni P. (DU) Malayalam, Prof. Udayanath Sahu (JNU), Odia, Dr. Manivannan M. (JNU), Tamil were part of the first panel discussion on ‘Classical Status of Indian Languages‘. The most crucial panel discussion was moderated by Anindita Sahoo from IIT, Madras.

Prof. B.N. Patnaik, Linguist, IIT Kanpur, Sandeep Sahu, Eminent Journalist, Dr. Devashis Jethy, Eminent innovator of Language, Binay Pattnaik, Language Activist, Sagar Satapathy, Journalist & Social Media Strategist and Ashish Sarangi, Social Entrepreneur and Networker were part of the panel discussion on ‘Making Mother Tongue the Language of Profession‘. The panel discussion was moderated by Subhendu Biswal.

The third panel discussion, ‘Mother Tongue; beyond the identity politics‘ included panelists Dr. A.J. Thomas, Editor, Indian Literature, Sahitya Akademi (Malayalam), Dr. Mandira Ghosh, Poet, Author and Educator (Bengali), Prof. Nandini Sahu, Dept of English, IGNOU (Odia) and Dr. Narinder Singh, Dept of Punjabi Language, Ramanuj College, Delhi University. It was moderated by Dr. Subasini Barik.

The panel discussion on the ‘Role of Popular Culture in shaping a language‘ had panelists Devdas Chhotray, Eminent Lyricist and Educationist, Raju Mishra, Eminent Film Director, Cinematographer and Writer, Dr. Suryamani Khuntia, Eminent Poet and Translator, Dr. Paramita Satpathy, Eminent Author and Administrator and Smt. Kasturi Pattnaik, Eminent Odishi Dancer. It was moderated by Shyamanuj Das.

The entire LangFest 2018 was well coordinated by Anindita Sahoo and Parambrahma Tripathy, while other members of The Intellects, who played a key role in conducting the event successfully, included Sahasranshu Mahapatra, Sanjay Parida, Shyamanuj Das, Mohammed Samsad Zaman, Aditya Mohanty, Dillip Swain, Shaheeda Tayab, Smrutidhara Rout, Anusuya Nayak, Radharani Dwibedi, Smaranika Swain, Srabani Swain, Sonali Swain, Shimran Zaman, Saroj Mishra, Manoj Panigrahi, Saroj Kumar Mohapatra, Sushil Kumar Behera, Umakant Jena, Sujit Kumar Biswal, Pranab Das, Subhendu Biswal, Ramahari Padhi and others.

Odia author and academician, Devdas Chhotray was conferred with Ama Gauraba Sammana.

Prabasi Bhasha Samman awards were given to eminent Film Director, Cinematographer and Writer Raju Mishra, Sandeep Sahu for journalism, Dr. BN Pattnaik for language, Prof. Sachidananda Mohanty, VC, Central University of Odisha for Literature, Kasturi Pattnaik for Odisi Dance, Paramita Satpathy for Author and Administrator, Dr Debasish Jethy for promotion of Odia language, Suryamani Khuntia in field of Odia translation, Binaya Patnaik for promotion of Odia language in Odisha and outside the State and for promotion of culture and social issues.

Yuva Prerana Sammana was conferred on Sagar Satapathy for inspiring young mass in the field of media and Ashish Sarangi in the field of social and cultural entrepreneurship.

Similarly, Vivekananda Pathaka Mancha of Keonjhar was conferred with Best Voluntary Organization award for improving education in rural areas.