Row over Ravenshaw University takes violent turn, BJD MLA among 3 named in FIR

The case has been registered under Section 25 and 27 of Arms Act and Section 115 (2) (voluntarily causing hurt to others), 126 (2) (wrongful restraint), 296 (obscene acts), 3(5) (common intention), 351 (3) (threatening to cause injury) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The complainant alleged that Wednesday evening, some non-students led by the BJD MLA and other two accused barged into the university campus and pushed him while he was talking to his friends.

In the FIR, the complainant alleged that the BJD leaders told him and others to leave the campus because they wanted to hold a torch rally. The FIR said the non-students became furious and attacked using obscene languages and threatened the complainant and his friends with a gun.

The rally organised under the banner of ‘Save Ravenshaw Legacy’ comprising former students and some students marched nearly 2 km raising slogans against Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan, who recently suggested renaming of the 156-year-old institution named after Thomas Edward Ravenshaw, a British bureaucrat who helped to establish the institution.

The clash broke out after their entry into the campus was opposed by students from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), affiliated to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Stating that it was his personal suggestion and calling for debate, Pradhan blamed the British officer Ravenshaw for the 1866 famine in which over a million Odia people perished.

As tension flared on the campus, police deployed on the campus based on the requests by the University authorities.

“Adequate security measures have been taken on the campus to prevent entry of non-students into the campus and to avoid any untoward incident,” said Cuttack deputy commissioner of police Anil Mishra.

The BJD condemned the “false FIR” against its leaders and clarified that a peaceful protest march was organised by the alumni and former students of the university. The party called the allegations “misleading and politically motivated.”

“The march was a democratic exercise aimed at voicing concerns over a controversial statement made by Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan regarding the renaming of the institution. This demonstration, which included participation from over 200 alumni and former students across various political affiliations, was conducted in a non-violent and orderly manner,” said the BJD in a statement.

Meanwhile, the BJD MLA, who has been named in the FIR raised the issue in the state assembly and opposed renaming of the institution, which was also supported by Congress MLA Sofia Firdous. BJP MLA Irasis Acharya said BJD’s protests to the issue shows its “colonial mindset”.