Bhubaneswar, Sep 23 Hundreds of youths and students from across Odisha on Wednesday joined the BJD’s ‘assembly gherao’ agitation here, demanding the resignation of School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond over the large-scale errors in the school textbooks.
Braving incessant rain, the protesters breached two barricades set up by the police, leading to a scuffle with security personnel. Later, several leaders of the BJD’s youth and student wings were taken into preventive custody.
The youths’ agitation, which continued overnight at the Mahatma Gandhi March here, was also joined by the BJD’s senior leaders, MPs and MLAs.
BJD members also stalled the assembly proceedings for two days over the textbook error issue.
The errors include describing iconic scientist Isaac Newton as the “greatest pilot”, placing Odisha’s Niyamgiri Hills in Jharkhand and printing a photograph of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly while labelling it as the Odisha Legislative Assembly.
Holding umbrellas due to rains, nearly 40 BJD MLAs reached the agitation site to boost morale of the protesting students and youths.
“We are on the streets along with students and youths as Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi failed to take action against the erring minister who has not resigned. The chief minister should dismiss the minister if he did not resign,” Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallik of the BJD told reporters at the dharna site.
The agitating students later went to Naveen Niwas, the residence of BJD president Naveen Patnaik and sought his blessings.
“I thank the students and youths for showing courage and staging demonstrations amid inclement weather and lashing rains. The stir will continue,” Patnaik told the gathering.
Speaking to reporters, BJD senior vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra accused the BJP government of hatching a conspiracy to destroy the future of the schoolchildren.
“Our youth and student members have organised the protest to wake up the government from deep sleep. Taking accountability, the minister should resign; otherwise, the chief minister should remove him from the cabinet,” Mishra said.
Mishra also demanded an unconditional public apology from the chief minister for the gross errors in the school textbooks.
Chinmaya Sahu, president of Biju Yuva Janata Dal (BYJD), the youth wing of BJD, threatened to continue the protest till the minister resigns.
“Nearly six months have passed in the current academic year and school students will appear for the half-yearly examination in the next few days. However, the BJP government has failed to distribute error-free textbooks to the students,” alleged Ipsita Sahu, president of Biju Chhatra Janata Dal (BCJD).
BJD MP Sulata Deo also alleged that the government is trying to hoodwink the people by claiming that corrected books have been printed and distributed.
Reacting to the protest by BJD, BJP leader and MLA Irasish Acharya said, “When the government is ready for a discussion on the floor of the assembly, the BJD organised a protest on the street. It shows that the BJD is playing drama for its survival.”
Meanwhile, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Bhakta Charan Das blamed the BJD leadership for being unable to remove the minister even after about 2,000 mistakes were found in textbooks affecting the future of over 22 lakh students.
“The BJD’s soft attitude towards the BJP ministers is the reason why Gond continues in the ministry,” Das said in a statement.
(PTI News)
