Cong, BJD student wings to be blamed for girl's suicide: BJP
2
Bhubaneswar:
BJP
on Thursday claimed offensive contents posted on social media by the student wings of
BJD
and Congress had caused the 20-year-old Balasore student significant psychological distress, forcing her to set herself ablaze.
"The BJD and Congress student members harassed and instigated the female student, forcing her to end her life. They spread lies and created an atmosphere of hatred against her," BJP women's wing state president Aiswarya Biswal said, adding that the deceased's brother had lodged a police complaint on Wednesday against those people.
Her allegation was endorsed by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). "The girl had been an active member of the ABVP for the last four years.
She had been raising her voice over various issues. Members of the student wings of BJD and Congress, who had been harassing her, should be arrested immediately," ABVP state secretary (east), Diptimayee Pratihari, said.
National Students' Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of Congress, denied the accusations. "BJP is playing the blame game to save its own govt, whose neglect and apathy resulted in the student's death.
The girl had lodged a complaint of sexual harassment against her department head. She had drawn the attention of several authorities through a social media post. But none addressed her grievance. To shield the govt's failure, the BJP is now framing us in the case," NSUI state president Udit Narayan Pradhan said.
Biju Chhatra Janata Dal (BCJD), BJD's student wing, also denied the alleged involvement of its members in her death.
"The BJP, which is on the back foot, is dragging us into the controversy. To cover up their own fault, they are levelling false allegations against us," BCJD member and BJD's Banki MLA Devi Ranjan Tripathy said.
BJD MLA Arun Kumar Sahoo said the traumatised student ended her life because of BJP's internal conflict. "Even though she was a member of the BJP-backed student wing, the party leaders did not address her grievance because of internal differences," Sahoo alleged.
State crime branch's crime against women and children wing (CAW&CW), which took over the investigation from Balasore police on Wednesday, said the role of every suspect is being verified. "We are analysing the social media content linked to the victim. The suspects will be interrogated," a crime branch official said.
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I've covered 119 taxa, species and subspecies of the mountain mammals of the world. Out of these, approximately 80 taxa are found in Asia, and almost half of them are in the Buddhist-dominated mountains of Asia. Some are surviving only because of the Buddhist monasteries. Had it not been for them, these species would've been long gone. I've personally witnessed this. From the rooftop of Rizong Gompa (a Buddhist monastery in Ladakh), I saw wolves chasing a herd of shapu (urial). The males ran up the mountain, and the females and younger ones ran towards the monastery to seek sanctuary there. That's Buddhism. Then, today, the largest number of mountain mammals anywhere is in Kashmir state. Or shall I say, in the undivided Kashmir, which was handed over by Dr. Singh's father Hari Singhji to the Union of India. The state had about 30 species and subspecies out of 119. There's no other place like that in the world, especially for mountain mammals. 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Perhaps when I first saw a snow leopard. After so many years of trudging and travelling, suddenly on a cold winter morning, I saw it. And I watched it for more than an hour. And so was seeing Markhor for the first time in Kazinag, with the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) above and [to my left], silhouetted against the sky and the backdrop of snow, was this huge male with corkscrew horns towering above him. Horns higher than his shoulder height, standing statuesque with wind rippling his wavy long beard. The sighting of the Caspian stag (maral) was also wonderful. But there is an incident in the book about my encounter with the mountain gorillas, which is rather saucy. There were 25 of us [on the expedition]. But this old female gorilla sort of scrutinised 25 of us, all wild-lifers and picked me. I do believe that animals have a sense of perception and they can make out people who they like and whom they don't. They get vibes of some sort. And I've got that kind of response from both wild and domestic animals. That has been my experience. The fact that that female came to me just to touch me and go back was a bit of a defining moment. In the last few years, you've made special efforts to see animals you failed to observe in your youth. Which are the ones you want to see now? I'm curious about seeing all animals with my own eyes. And, if possible, photograph them. That has taken me all over the world. But that aside, seeing species other than the ones you've already seen is always interesting. So, I travel, go to local places, and just savour the ambience. For the last few years, I've maintained a list of 10 animals and I keep on seeing some of them, not so many now. Then, I also strike out some and others go into that list. But there are several animals I've never seen. For example, the Amur leopard. I've seen it in captivity though. They're gorgeous. Then, the Amur (Siberian) tiger — the largest cat in the world. They're much larger than ours. All tigers came from the north. So, I want to go and see one. I went to Lazovsky (Nature Reserve), near Vladivostok, with my daughter Radhika. The Director of the Reserve said, sure, sir, you come and stay here. I asked him what are the chances of sighting the tiger, to which he replied that, sir, if you stay here for a month and go out in the winter, which is minus 30 degrees Celsius, you may see one. I didn't have a month to spend there, so that was that. Then, I tried to see the mountain tapir but failed to see one in the Andes. I have seen the Dall sheep but not the others, for example, Stone's sheep, a variety, in Yukon. I haven't seen the snow sheep. But, as luck would have it, I've seen almost all of them. There are a few left, and I'd like to see them if I can and if age allows me to. As people often encroach upon animals' space, I was wondering about your views on photographing animals in the wild. People not only intrude upon animals' privacy, but also upon their movements. Just to get better pictures, they block the movement of animals. There's also, unfortunately, baiting to get animals, which is illegal, but is still practised. Then, there is this practice of muscling out the other man and going ahead of him in the jeep or whatever you can to get a better photograph of a particular animal. The interest of the animal is completely compromised. I abhor that. I hope I've not done that myself. Anyway, if you're going to photograph animals, they don't want you there, but you're there, so the least you can do is not bother them. Firstly, if you disturb them, then it'll not be in your interest. Secondly, it's just not right. I also feel that some animals have become so immune to disturbances that they don't really mind at all, but one must mind their manners. I read that you want 'the moronic belief in the medicinal efficacy of rhino horn' to end someday. Could you share your views on exploiting wildlife principally for commercial purposes? One is the therapeutic or propounded quality of some of the products, like the rhino horn, a classic example, which is just keratin. It's the same material as your fingernail. Many of the horns or the other items, which are used for improving sexual potency or rectification of some venereal diseases and whatever — there is no scientific proof for that. But the belief is such, especially regarding Chinese and Tibetan medicine. However, I must say that their popularity is decreasing. And if the governments do not sponsor it, if they discourage it, it will die out very soon. There are a few others where their efficacy cannot be doubted. And I am talking particularly about musk. It has been used by man for at least 5,000 years. In Paris, I met this big shot from the Chanel organisation. And he said there is no substitute or a commodity in the whole world like musk. It's used as a base for perfumery. I've smelt a pod of a musk deer, shot almost 70 years ago, which still smells aromatic. The problem is that apart from its base in perfumery, its efficacy, even in some aromatic things, is genuine. How do you stop this business as usual? The Chinese have musk deer farms. And you can siphon off musk from the navel gland of the male musk deer. The females don't have them. But as long as there is a supply from these farms, the demand for musk will remain and as long as there is a demand, the illegal supply from animals killed in the wild will continue. The Nepalese and others have huge nets and they drive animals — they don't bother to make out whether it's a male or a female. If it's a male, they'll get the musk. If it's female, they'll get its meat (it's delicious). So they will still be [hunted] to eat the meat. The musk deer will always be pursued, until and unless people stop using musk at all, for whatever it's worth. Saurabh Sharma is a Delhi-based writer and freelance journalist. They can be found on Instagram/X: @writerly_life.
