Naveen Patnaik leads Odisha in tuneful tribute to Covid warriors

BHUBANESWAR: Responding to the call of chief minister Naveen Patnaik , residents of the state and the Odia diaspora sang 'Bande Utkala Janani' on Saturday to show gratitude to 'Covid warriors' - doctors, nurses and other frontline workers.


The state came to a standstill at 5.30 pm and people were led by chief minister Naveen Patnaik and governor Ganeshi Lal in singing the song that was written by Kantakabi Laxmikant Mohapatra in 1912 and is closely linked to Odia pride.

All members of the assembly, staff of the secretariat Lok Seva Bhawan, personnel at the commissionerate police office and at the police headquarters in Cuttack and lawyers of the high court joined in, as did people at educational institutes, in markets and at traffic intersections.

"I am indebted to all. This showed that at this difficult time all Odias stand together and it has given courage to all corona warriors. Starting from small kids to elders, the participation of people in this initiative has boosted the morale of our fight against coronavirus," Naveen said, extending his thanks to all political parties for supporting the gesture.

BJP leaders and Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Pratap Sarangi sang at their homes while the party's national vice-president Baijayant Panda and its MPs shared videos of them joining in. The state units of BJP and Congress organised mass singing of 'Bande Utkal Janani' at their respective party offices. The song was played at railway stations. Singer Asha Bhosle and Shankar Mahadevan too lent their voice to the moment.

It felt great to sing the song. We are thankful to the government and the corona warriors for keeping the spread of the infection under control in our state. Together we can win this fight,” said Suman Kumar Nayak, a shop-keeper at Unit-1 market.

In Berhampur, too, thousands of people, mostly traders, formed a human chain while maintaining social distance and sang ‘Bande Utkal Janani’. Organised by the Ganjam Chamber of Commerce and other associate members, the chain began at Bada Bazar and ended at the Old Bus Stand, and was about 1.5 km long on either side of the road. Every participant wore a mask and the chain was linked by ribbons instead of hands.

(With inputs from Hrusikesh Mohanty in Berhampur)