Orissa Matters

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

Mother Nature had taken millions of years to create iron, bauxite and other precious ores. It is wrong on part of any government elected for five years to exhaust this natural wealth hand-in-glove with private industries, completely oblivious of future generations and their share on natural resources. Therefore, indigenous Oriyas are opposing allocation of land and mines to POSCO and Vedanta and their likes by Navin Patnaik’s government sans care for the future.

This does not mean that the BJD is wrong in its movement against Polavaram

Polavaram is set to push Orissa into jeopardy notwithstanding what the Manmohan Singh government echoing Andhra is saying.

We have already said and we are sure, had Biju Patnaik and Navin Patnaik not neglected to act in right earnest in right time, this project would never have proceeded to catch central approval.

But this doesn’t mean we shall not support the present BJD stand against Polavaram.

We are sure; Orissa will be severely affected by this project. It is good that even though delayed, Orissa’s ruling party has woke up against this danger to Orissa.

The project should forthwith be stayed. Delay in opposition to Polavaram is a technical point. No technical point should have any overriding effect on matters that affect the people of a State and their future generations. Projects like Polavaram should not be given green signal by the Union Government till people of the neighboring States agree to it wholeheartedly. Technology should be explored to use the river water for every purpose Polavaram project is meant for, but no forest and farm land and no human habitat be allowed to be submerged or destroyed.

In the name of development of one State, people of another State must not be put to permanent jeopardy.

Andhra should not press on proceeding with the project. It should appreciate that a massive number of its inhabitants are also opposing the project. It is also being opposed to by Chatishgarh.

If the Union Government does not stop this project till at least all the neighboring States are convinced that their people will not be adversely affected, national integration of India will be severely threatened.

Let such development not occur.

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

The media community is feeling unsafe under the climate of crime cultivated against the Press in the present regime. The climate is so anti-Press that the Police are encouraged to torture any person connected with media under any pretext anywhere just to send alarming messages that any action disadvantageous to administration can land any media person in jail anytime. Arrest and under-trial incarceration of Suryaprabha publisher Bikash Swain is the latest instance.

Suryaprava is a daily newspaper that has attracted attention for exposing instances of maladministration.

Because of this, its publisher Bikash Swain was not in the good books of the Government. Arrested by the Bhubaneswar Police, he is in the prison as an undertrial accused.

The founding fathers of our sovereignty were conscious of how Police may misuse its powers against any citizen under personal motive or extraneous influence and dismantle his/her right to personal liberty. Therefore, under Article 21 of our Constitution, it was stipulated, “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law”.

But the procedure save the bare provision under Article 22 (1) was not established by law for long.

In the circumstances the Supreme Court of India formulated the procedure in Joginder Kumar V. State of U.P. and others case in Writ Petition (Criminal) 9 of 1994 wherein the rights of an arrestee were made clear. “No arrest can be made because it is lawful for the Police Officer to do so. The existence of power to arrest is one thing. The justification for the exercise of it is quite another” said the Supreme Court.

Action against Police contemplated by Court

The bench comprising Chief Justice of India M.N.Venkatachaliah and Judges S.Mohan and Dr.A.S.Anand in fact stressed that a Police Officer should be punished if he/she arbitrarily arrests a person.

While holding “No arrest can be made in a routine manner on a mere allegation of commission of an offense made against a person”, it said, “It would be prudent for the Police Officer in the interest of protection of the constitutional rights of a citizen and perhaps in his own interest that no arrest should be made without a reasonable satisfaction reached after some investigation as to the genuineness and bona fides of a complain and a reasonable belief both as to the person’s complicity and even so as to the need to effect the arrest”.

By putting the words “and perhaps in his own interest” the Apex Court has laid emphasis on punishment in case of absence of justification on “the need to effect the arrest”.

For effective enforcement of the fundamental right to liberty enshrined in Article 21, at Para 26 of the above judgment reported at 1994 CRI.L.J.1981, the Supreme Court mandated three requirements in matters of arrest and ordered that the said requirements “shall be followed in all cases of arrest till legal provisions are made in this behalf”.

The Supreme Court also ordered that the “Directors General of Police of all the States in India shall issue necessary instructions requiring observance of these requirements”. But the requirements formulated by the Court were more ignored than honoured.

Therefore, the Supreme Court improved upon these requirements in B.K.Basu V. State of West Bengal in its judgment delivered on 18 December 1996 as reported in (1997) 13 OCR (SC) – 214, stipulating that the new set of requirements must be “followed in all cases of arrest and detention till legal provisions are made in that behalf, as preventive measures” against misuse of Police power in arrests.

When in the first requirement it was made mandatory that the Police personnel carrying out the arrest “should bear accurate, visible and clear identification and name tags with their designations”, in the second requirement, the stipulation was that “The Police Officer carrying out the arrest of the arrestee shall prepare a memo of arrest at the time of arrest and such memo shall be attested by at least one witness, who may either be a member of the family of the arrestee or a respectable person of the locality from where the arrest is made. It shall also be countersigned by the arrestee and shall contain the time and date of arrest”.

These and other requirements are blatantly and contemptuously contravened in arrest of Sri Bikash Swain. In absence of reason of arrest, as the Police is yet to explain as to why it did not follow the procedure laid down by the Supreme Court, it is suspected that exposure of misrule in Suryaprabha is the cause of his arrest. It is time for the Press in Orissa to be conscious of this stern time.

Media Unity for Freedom of Press, as per its resolution on September 18, will offer silent protests against growing attack on media before the Raj Bhawan at 12 noon of September 22. Below is its Notice:

A number of editors of daily newspapers and web portals who have not been able to attend the meeting on 18 September 2010 have extended their support to MUFP in their fight for media unity and freedom of Press.

Mr. Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, Editor: Sambad and promoter of Kanak TV, who was present near the ” freedom Tree” on 16th September and was a party to the decision regarding 18/09 meeting, being away from Bhuabneswar on Saturday, had sent Mr. Gopal Mohapatra, Managing Editor of Sambad to convey his support to MUFP to uphold the media unity and freedom of press and in protesting against any move to gag the press.

Mr. Satakadi Hota, Veteran writer and Editor: Samaya, who could not attend the meeting due to illness in a message has extended all support to the MUFP.

Mr. Tathagat Satpathy, Biju Janata Dal , Lok Sabha, M.P. and Editor: Dharitri who was away in his constituency in a message has also extended support to MUFP’s move for media unity and freedom of press.

Rashmi Ranjan Mohaptra, Editor: Orissa Diary has also extended similar support from Delhi.

Among media persons who attended the convention on 18the September were Umashankar Mishra, Chief Editor: Suryaprava, Bata Krushna Tripathy, Chief Editor: Dinalipi,Gopal Mohapatra, GM, News, Sambad, Subhas Chandra Patnaik, Editor: Orissa Matters, Pradyumna Satpathy, Editor: Subarta, Dwarika Mohan Mishra, Kedar Mishra, Editor, Sachittra Vijaya, Prof, Banikanta Mishra,XIMB, Sudhir Patnaik, Editor; Samadrusti, Sampad Moahaptra, NDTV, Papu Mohanty, Samaya, Suryamani Mishra, Khabar, Anil Prasad Mishra, Viswavani, Dulal Mishra, Purusottam Singh Thakur, Prativa Ghosh, Sambad Kalika, Navin Das, Executive Editor, Suryaprava, Shyam Sunder Sethi, Sudhir Lenka, Editor: HiNews India, Kamalakanta Routray, Seshasis Sahoo, Hrusikesh Gouda, Kumud Ranjan Dhal, Dilip Satpathy, Business Standard, Jatin Das, IANS, Tikan Mishra, Aaromv, Bijoy Kumar Khuntia, Mukesh Ranjan Parida, Lambodar Dash, Aaromv,Biswanath Dash, EPA, Prasanta Patnaik, India TV and others.

Socio-cultural activist Suparno Satpathy has in a write up expressed shock over the manner of arrest and incarceration of Bikash Swain, publisher of Suryaprava by the Bhubaneswar Police.

He was arrested on a FIR of civil nature in lightening speed and produced before a court in such a manner and at such a time that it would not be possible on his part to get bail and hence would go to jail with no appropriate court to intervene for at least two days due to closure of the courts on holidays. This was when his presence was essentially required at the bed of his cancer crumbled father and no investigation had been made into credibility of the FIR and no question was put to Swain to verify whether or not he was involved with the alleged offense, he has said.

Pointing out that Sri. Swain owns a daily news paper “which has been exposing the wrong doings of the BJD Government”, Sri Satapathy has said, “an angle of political vendetta and foul play cannot be ruled out” specifically as dealing with this particular case, the Police has shown unusual haste.

“The ruling party in Orissa has been systematically suppressing the voice of any media which works independently. This strongly indicates the autocratic approach of a government which has gone mast with the unprecedented result of the 2009 general elections in which they got re-elected to power. With an absolute majority in the Orissa Legislative Assembly, the current BJD government is working in a manner like there is no tomorrow and that they can get away with anything and everything they want”. Therefore, Satpathy has stated, “Every responsible citizen must extended his / her support to the cause of a free and fair media. It is not required to support a wrong doing of an accused but it is certainly required to stand for a cause where the accused is humiliated and punished long before he/ she is even proved guilty. There is no crime bigger than an innocent loosing his/her dignity”.

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik seems to have developed a wrong notion that governance of Orissa in Oriya depends upon his mercy. His press-note of December 17 and full page display advertisement in major broadsheets of today force us to arrive at this apprehension.

In his December 17 press note it was declared that he had held a meeting with the five members of the ministerial committee on that day for the purpose of “strictly implementing the Orissa Official Language Act, 1954 in official and non-official level” to facilitate which a website has been floated by the government. In the full page multi-color advertisement in broadsheet dailies today, this is intriguingly missing.

The advertisement is designed to tell the people that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has taken historical steps to save and develop Oriya language, and has enumerated the steps he has taken. This is blatant lie. Neither he nor his government has executed any single item claimed to be “historical” in the official advertisement. The entire advertisement is nothing but false propaganda. What a shame it is, that, the people of Orissa are taken for granted by their Chief Minister! Read more →

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

Legends are the most misguiding mischief aimed at superimposing lies on reality so that indigenous people of an occupied land are kept too dazzled to see the dark face of the rulers and the class of exploiters can keep its victims subjugated to its authority, while forcing them to forget the heroic history of evolution of their own philosophy of life, their own splendid spiritual realizations, their own socio-economic uniqueness, their own ancient culture, their own valorous past, their own way of social integration and their own civilization.

We see this mischief galore in the context of Navakalevara of SriJagannatha.

So, here, we are to rip apart the legends and bring the reality of the Navakalevara to light, as thereby alone we can reach the lost uniqueness of the people of Orissa.

We will use Puri Sankaracharya’s self-proclaimed authority over Navakalevara to proceed with our purpose.

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

The Oriya daily SAMAJA founded by late Utkalmani Pandit Gopabandhu Das, to which, out of their love and reverence for the great humanitarian leader, the people of Orissa had and have been giving their financial and moral support, is in a menacing maze of forgery and loot.

Sadly, two of Gopabandhu’s trusted men – Lingaraj Mishra and Radhanath Rath – who, because of being known so, had the opportunity of becoming cabinet ministers in Orissa, were the masterminds and/or makers of the forgery from which the paper is yet to be salvaged.

Both of them – Lingaraj and Radhanath – had partnered with each other in forging the last WILL of Gopabandhu to grab the Samaja, which being Gopabandhu’s paper was of superb credibility and the greatest political instrument of the day. They had performed this crime behind the screen of and in nexus with Servants of the People Society (SoPS), of which, while breathing his last, Gopabandhu was the Vice-President. Read more →