Ram Chandra Meher (Senior TV Journalist in Odisha)/ Odisha : Year 2022; the fierce battle for Odia Asmita started keeping the Government at the center and Jagannath as its sole torch bearer. Puri parikrama project was one of the pet projects of Naveen Patnaik Government and they vigorously pursued it. Stakeholder involvement was very minimal. That’s where Odisha Government made a huge mistake and trampled upon all ideas of how not to do the Parikrama Project. The opposition was not about pursuing the “Parikrama Project” or not but about how the project was delivered. Odia Asmita is all about Lord Jagannath and that’s where the battle started. Odisha Government overlook following:
- Closing of 3 gates and only allowing darshan through one gate. Sahanamela is a word used for Lord Jagannath. When the Government trampled upon this; it hurt the sentiment of lakhs of devotees
- Construction activities around temple might have endangered the old structure. However, the Government didn’t consider this sentiment.
- Ratna bhandar issue was raised and Puri district collector came out and said, the main key was lost.
A news channel Editor and handful of persons protested the decision. It touched the sentiments of crores of people.Said News Channel Editorfought against the activities of the govt and the tremor was felt in power corridor. People came out of streets and supported the News Channel and its Editor.State govt violated the AMASR act 1958. Case went to High Court. The court ordered ASI (Archeological Survey of India) for a joint report. In its report to High Court , ASI and Temple administration said, irreparable damage has been done to the Jagannthtemple. ASI questioned the very intention of the state govt’s work, carrying out without approval and permission of ASI and NMA.
The News Channel Editor went to Supreme Court. But SC in its judgement said this is not a fit case for PIL and it’s a loss of court’s valuable time and fined the News Channel Editor for wasting of court’s time. He was asked to pay Rs. 1lakh and citizen supported the News Channel Editor and pay one-one rupee to him to pay in SC but not to ask any apology.
Issue around Lord Jagannth and temple, all started from February, 2022 and ended on june 29th, when the News Channel Editor was arrested by the govt in false cases to trample his liberty and voice
This is where Odia Asmita and Swabhiman battle started with Jagannath temple, non odia supremacy etc and the news channel Bada Khabar started this battle which BJP used it as a poll plank and won the election.
