Many questions need to be answered by the perpetrators of Dalit Land Scam in Odisha. The OTV Channel management is also guilty of keeping silence over the fact that a dalit minor girl was raped by its employees. Jagi Panda is said to be in the know how in the matter but did not take action in providing justice to the dalit girl. Ram Madhav should have gone deeper into the case before making any comments. There is no personal vendetta; it’s a matter of injustice to the downtrodden. The High Court has clearly denied granting protection to Jagi and Jay in the case as there seems to be prima fascia evidence against them.
Bhubaneswar: The two incidents that have called for social and moral conscience of the people in Odisha today are the Sarua land scam and the rape of a minor dalit girl. While the first case pertains to the grabbing of Dalit lands by Odisha Infratech Limited owned by Jagi Mangat Panda and Baijayant Panda, the second inhuman case relates to the alleged rape of a minor Dalit girl by some of the employees of OTV – again owned by the Panda family, and the subsequent acts to suppress the truth. In both cases the involvement of companies owned by Bijayant and Jagi has been established. Instead of owning the responsibility, Jagi and Jaya Panda have been trying to pass on the onus to others and give political colors to the issue which is very clear from the tweet reaction of Ram Madhav, a learned senior leader of the BJP and member of RSS.
BJP leader Ram Madhav has come in the support of Baijayant and Jagi Panda even after the High Court rejected their plea and revoked the interim protection. In his tweet, Ram Madhav has said that the Crime Branch’s actions are “politically motivated”. He has also compared the incident to the arrest of Arnab Goswami in Maharashtra by the police. There seems to be no reason why Ram Madhav made these comparison.
Perhaps Ram Madhav has forgotten that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has been fighting for the poor and oppressed for years. How is Ram Madhav advocating for the family of a billionaire businessman wearing suit boot? That too for when the billionaire has grabbed dalit land. There are questions being raised in political circles on how a senior leader like Ram Madhav came in support of Baijayant and his family even after the High Court’s verdict against the businessman. BJD Rajya Sabha Member Amar Patnaik has reacted and said that Ram Madhav himself should come to Odisha and see the grief of the oppressed families of Sarua.
Ram Madhav ji, may I request you to kindly indulge me by coming over here to see the plight of these 22 Scheduled Caste people who have been dispossessed of their land? https://t.co/ppn4puaivE
— Dr. Amar Patnaik (@Amar4Odisha) November 22, 2020
In Odisha, the Land Reforms Act prohibits sale and purchase of land belonging to the people of Scheduled Castes. This is a constitutional protection granted to protect the poor families from oppression. BJD leaders have questioned whether an educated person like Ram Madhav could come in favour of Jay and Jagi Panda who bought Dalits’ land in anonymous transactions. Taking to the twitter, the BJD MP said that he had tears in his eyes after hearing the grief of the Dalits who met him. That is why he has taken unto himself to fight for them in the court without taking any remuneration.
Perhaps Ram Madhav did not read the High Court’s verdict completely. The High Court, in its judgment, clearly denies any allegation of political motive. It even withdrew all kinds of protection granted to Jagi and Baijayant because it had evidence of criminal acts of land grabbing.
Similarly, there are suggestions coming from political circles that Ram Madhav should not come forward as an advocate for the billionaire family. May be Baijayant has joined the Party to protect himself and his business interests. The Panda family has not only looted the land of the Dalits in Sarua, but is also trying to suppress the atrocities committed against a Dalit minor. The case is still being investigated by the Crime Branch, the Women’s Commission and the State Commission For Protection Of Child Rights.