Bhubaneswar: The Opposition Congress Monday demanded the release of eight National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) activists, including Odisha unit president Udit Pradhan, arrested for showing a black flag to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat January 31 here.
The party made the demand after a delegation of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) met the arrested members of the NSUI, the student wing of Congress, at the Jharpada jail here. Holding a press conference here after meeting the activists in the jail, senior Congress leader Jayadev Jena said, “When the NSUI members were staging demonstrations democratically, the BJP government, through its police force, arrested them and put them behind bars, which is completely against the spirit of our democratic system.
“The activists have not hurled stones or eggs or tomatoes. They have shown a black flag to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, who has insulted the freedom fighters by making remarks on India’s independence,” he said. On the first anniversary of Ram Temple’s consecration, Bhagwat had said the day should be celebrated as ‘Pratishtha Dwadashi’, marking the establishment of India’s ‘true independence’ after centuries of foreign invasions, Jena said.
“The student leaders were staging a protest to raise the voice of the youth who believe in secularism. But the BJP government tried to murder the democracy by putting them in jail,” the Congress leader said.
The Congress leader urged the BJP government to drop the charges framed against the Congress workers and release them from jail. “Otherwise, the Congress party would hit the streets and take the fight to every corner of the state,” he warned.
PNN
