Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and several Left parties and civil society organisations in Odisha on Monday condemned the Sunday attack on JNU students and teachers. Violence had no space in democracy, he said.
“Shocked to know about the violent #JNUattack. Violence has no space in democracy and such attacks on students must be condemned unequivocally. Appeal law enforcement agencies to take swift action to apprehend the culprits and wish the injured students a speedy recovery,” said the Chief Minister on Twitter.
Hundreds of people gathered in protest at the Master Canteen Square near the Bhubaneswar Railway Station around 11 a.m., including leaders and workers of the CPI(M), the CPI, the Forward Block and the CPI(ML) Liberation. Activists of several democratic organisations also took part in the protest, holding banners and placards condemning the JNU incident.
The leaders and activists who addressed the protesters demanded a judicial probe and action against the culprits.
Former State secretary of the CPI(M) Janardan Pati demanded that the Supreme Court use its powers and order a probe on its own to bring out the truth.
A group of activists of the All-India Democratic Students Organisation staged a demonstration in front of the Rama Devi Women’s University. “Stop hooliganism on JNU campus,” said a placard.
Activists of a civil society group with the hashtag OdishaStandsWithJNU, who participated in the protest, also organised a candlelight march at the Master Canteen Square in the evening. They raised slogans against the attack on students and teachers and the damage to property on the JNU campus by masked men.
Several student organisations staged a protest outside the main gate of the Uktal University in the capital city in the evening.
