Protests, Politics Erupt In Odisha After Student Who Self-Immolated Over Harassment Dies
The Opposition parties, including the Congress, on Tuesday unitedly called for 'Odisha Bandh' on July 17 over the death of a 20-year-old student from Balasore.
Amid the ongoing tensions in Odisha over the death of a 20-year-old female student from Balasore, the opposition parties, including the Congress, on Tuesday unitedly called for 'Odisha Bandh' on July 17. The parties have also demanded the resignation of the State Higher Education Minister and a judicial investigation in connection to the case.
'Joint opposition has resolved that Odisha will be closed on July 17," CPI(M) leader Suresh Panigrahi was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
The CPI(M) leader attacked the state government and state that the victim appealed to the Odisha government, the local MP and MLA, Principal, District Collector, SP and the Higher Education Minister of state and centre, but nothing happened.
'We demand a strict judicial investigation of the whole incident, the Higher Education Minister should resign, and some action should be taken against the local MLA and MP," he added.
The 20-year-old student from Fakir Mohan Autonomous College in Odisha's Balasore, who had attempted self-immolation, died on Monday, confirmed the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Bhubaneswar.
The student set herself on fire after allegedly facing prolonged sexual harassment by her college's Head of Department. Despite lodging a formal complaint and seeking help from the principal, her pleas were ignored, leading to the tragic incident.
Opposition Attacks Odisha Govt
Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday called the death the student an 'organised murder by the BJP's system" and accusing the BJP-led state government of failing to protect the victim.
Rahul Gandhi alleged that the student was subjected to repeated threats, torments and humiliation instead of receiving justice.
Taking to X, the Congress leader wrote, 'The death of a daughter fighting for justice in Odisha is nothing less than a murder by the BJP's system. That brave student raised her voice against sexual harassment, but instead of delivering justice, she was threatened, tormented, and repeatedly humiliated. Those who were supposed to protect her kept breaking her."
'As always, the BJP's system continued to shield the accused and forced an innocent daughter to set herself on fire. This is not suicide; it is an organised murder by the system. Modi ji, whether in Odisha or Manipur, the daughters of the nation are burning, breaking, and dying. And you? You remain silent. The country doesn't need your silence; it needs answers. India's daughters need safety and justice," the post added.
Earlier in the day, the Congress workers staged a protest outside AIIMS Bhubaneswar following the death of the student. Police later detained the protesting workers.
(With agency inputs)
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Remember the 'tyranny of the unelected' remark by then-finance minister Arun Jaitley when the Supreme Court struck it down? Senior ministers and BJP leaders have been attacking the highest judiciary since then. In April, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey said that the Supreme Court was responsible for 'inciting religious wars' and then-Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna for 'civil wars' in India. Now compare their scathing remarks about the judiciary with those of ex-VP Dhankhar. Do you still think that the VP's criticism of the judiciary could be one of the reasons for his ouster? No way. In 2018, a few weeks after four Supreme Court judges had addressed a press conference, triggering a huge controversy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met a few journalists from a prominent English newspaper. I have it from authoritative sources that when they asked him about the judges' presser, he told them, 'You should know that a handful of families control the entire judiciary — just 60. 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It must be a coincidence that it was Nadda who had declared last year that the BJP was saksham or capable now and could manage its own affairs without the RSS' interference. Amid the stalemate over the choice of the next BJP president, Dhankhar's sudden ouster is another message to the RSS that the BJP is saksham now and can manage its own affairs. DK Singh is Political Editor at ThePrint. He tweets @dksingh73. Views are personal. (Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)
