BJD Demands CM Majhi’s Statement on Ravenshaw University Name Change Issue

Bhubaneswar: Opposition Biju Janata Dal on Thursday demanded a statement of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on the Ravenshaw University name change issue.

A war of words erupted between the ruling BJP and Opposition BJD in the Assembly over the issue.

Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in the House, BJD leader Byomakesh Ray demanded a statement by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi confirming the Odisha government’s stand on the issue in the wake of the rising student discontent over it.

Ravenshaw University, named after the then Commissioner of Odisha, TE Ravenshaw, has remained a milestone in the development of modern education in the state for 156 years, Ray said.

He further stated that the then Odisha Commissioner TE Ravenshaw, after whom the university has been named, joined just a few months before the devastating famine in 1866.

The BJD MLA asserted that Ravenshaw had laid special emphasis on the use of Odia language in schools instead of Bengali.

“We oppose this move to turn a non-issue into an issue instead of addressing more important matters concerning the institution,” Ray told media persons outside the House on Thursday.

He warned that the student agitation would be intensified if any steps were taken to change the name of Ravenshaw University.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Sofia Firdous also said that Ravenshaw University was a notable educational institution of the state which boasts of having a galaxy of great intellectual alumni.

She also urged the government to make its stand clear on the name change row.

BJP MLA Irasis Acharya has countered the Opposition’s allegations. When Rome was burning, Nero was playing music. Similarly, when lakhs of Odia people were dying in the famine, Ravenshaw went on 70-days’ leave, he said.

Referring to the statement of the Union Education Minister, Acharya said that it was not right to raise someone’s personal statement in the Assembly.