Baripada: Normal life came to a standstill in Baripada Tuesday following a 12-hour bandh call given by the Mayurbhanj Adivasi Revolutionary Youth and Students’ Association (MARYSA), a tribal students’ body, demanding the setting up of a Santali University here.
Almost all shops, commercial establishments and educational institutions remained closed in response to the strike.
The agitators staged a blockade at Murgabadi Square on National Highway-18, bringing vehicular movement to a grinding halt. Hundreds of vehicles remained stranded on either side of the road.
Commuters and passengers bound to different destinations had a harrowing time as buses, trucks and other means of transport remained off roads.
Two platoons of police were deployed at strategic points to avoid any untoward incident, while over 20 tribal student activists including district unit president of MARYSA, Arjun Munda, were arrested during picketing. The arrested activists were kept at Laxmiposi police outpost while executive president of the outfit Dharamraj Hansda was kept at Town police station.
However, court proceeding were as usual. Collector Vineet Bhardwaj was in the collectorate.
MARYSA pressed for a Santali University in the district in line with the proposed Odia University.
The MARYSA lamented that Odia, English and Mathematics were included in Ujjwal programme while Santali, Urdu, Bengali and Hindi were excluded.
It pointed out that a Santali training centre was opened temporarily on the DIET premises, but work for its building could not make headway in the absence of budget.
OPEPA has made a format to collect detailed data about students studying from primary level to the intermediate level, but Santali language has not been incorporated in it, the activists alleged.
At the higher secondary level, Santali should be introduced as MIL or alternative language, they demanded.
MARYSA activists had earlier submitted memoranda to the Chief Minister, the school and mass education minister and secretary and the district education officer about their demands.
PNN
