Bhubaneswar: Accusing the Modi government of undermining democratic rights and promoting corporate interests at the expense of ordinary people, the Navnirman Krushak Sangathan Thursday announced protests during the Prime Minister’s October 25 visit to Odisha.
Announcing the protest plan at a press conference in Bhubaneswar Thursday, the organisation’s founder, Akshay Kumar, alleged that the Centre and the Odisha government were suppressing dissent while facilitating the exploitation of the state’s natural resources by corporate houses.
Citing the Sijimali mining controversy in Rayagada district, Kumar alleged that farmers and tribal communities resisting the transfer of land, forests, water and mineral resources to corporate interests were being harassed through false cases, prolonged incarceration and police action. He termed the developments a case of “destruction in the name of development”.
Kumar also accused the Centre of failing to fulfil farmers’ demands for minimum support prices (MSP) for 23 crops despite the prolonged farmers’ agitation in Delhi in 2020-21, during which, he claimed, more than 750 farmers died. He alleged that the government’s policies had deepened the agrarian crisis and contributed to farmer suicides.
Targeting the Odisha government over school education, Kumar said it had acknowledged 1,678 errors in textbooks for Classes I to VIII, but corrected books had yet to reach students despite repeated protests. He questioned School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond’s failure to take moral responsibility and resign, alleging that the delay was jeopardising the academic future of nearly one crore students.
The organisation also accused the Centre of undermining voting rights through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, claiming that the exercise threatened the franchise of 13.30 crore people nationwide. Kumar alleged that the government was using state machinery to curb democratic protests and cited the detention of Cockroach Janta Party spokesperson Saurav Das and national leader Ashutosh Ranka as evidence of the alleged crackdown on dissent.
He further condemned what he described as attempts to discredit democratic movements through pro-government media and to restrict critical voices on social media.