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Ravenshaw University row: Odisha govt distances from Dharmendra Pradhan’s statement
Odisha BJP said the Union education minister’s statement was intended against the colonisation of higher education institutions.
Odisha deputy chief minister KV Singh Deo and higher education minister Suryabanshi Suraj on Monday said Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan had already clarified that the proposal to change the name of the Ravenshaw University was his personal opinion.
“There should be a debate on the issue,” the state ministers said.
Suryavanshi further said, “It does not hold any importance.”
However, the state BJP unit defended Pradhan and said the Union education minister’s statement was intended against colonisation of higher education institutions.
“The BJD and Congress have either not understood what Pradhan said, or they do not have the intellectual capacity to perceive the context in which the Union minister made such a statement,” state BJP spokesperson Anil Biswal said.
Referring to the book ‘Desha Kala Patra’, a historical collection of writings by renowned Odia author Jagannath Prasad Das, Biswal said the author has detailed the apathy of TE Ravenshaw, the then commissioner of Odisha division during the famine that saw nearly three million people die.
“The Union education minister wanted a larger debate on the issue. When the entire country is trying to shed the colonial tag and come out of the legacy of invaders, this is the right time to give the sons of the soil, who played a significant role in establishment of the institution,” Biswal said.
