By Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta
The state of Odisha, otherwise notorious for lying low even in exceptional political situations, has, in the last fortnight, occupied news spaces like no time before. Three barbaric incidents, which came in quick succession, have made people sit up and take notice.
First came the public humiliation and battering of two Dalit men suspected of cattle smuggling by self-proclaimed cow protectors in Ganjam. Then, came a preventable stampede that killed three and injured over 50 devotees during the much-celebrated Jagannath Rath Yatra in Puri. Finally, there was the brutal assault of a municipal officer in Bhubaneswar by Bharatiya Janata Party workers. These events are being discussed as some of the most tragic and shocking in Odisha’s recent history. It is as if someone suddenly cast a proverbial curse on this extremely god-fearing state.
But they have also transformed into a hotly-contested political controversy that has put the spotlight on the one-year-old BJP state government, especially against the comparative backdrop of how the former dispensation of Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal had successfully administered big events without glitches and kept a tight vigil on possible law and order problems throughout its 24-year-old regime.
Two of these incidents mark a distinct turn towards violence as a method for political dominance – something that Odisha had never seen in abundance. Odisha has witnessed intense competitive politics and sharply critical narratives against incumbents but vigilante action by political forces, especially along the lines of what one often sees in northern states, have been rare. This was also a reason why Odisha has never had cause to appear on the front pages of newspapers very often.
While the Rath Yatra is not a stranger to accidents, the stampede in Puri, which sees lakhs of devotees turn up during the festival every year, was somewhat unprecedented because this was the first time that the state BJP government attempted to showcase it as a global event by sending out thousands of invitations to VVIPs, including industrialists like Gautam Adani. Its focus clearly was to use the event as an opportunity for good press, forgetting the mammoth administrative exercise it entailed. The Congress alleged that over 5,000 inner cordon passes were issued to BJP politicians from across India by the Mohan Chandra Manjhi government during the Rath Yatra, treating it like a private event of “billionaires, cronies, and camera crews, at the cost of ordinary devotees”.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.
