Bhubaneswar: Hundreds of Youth Congress members Saturday scuffled with security personnel in Bhubaneswar as they attempted to gherao Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s official residence to demand his resignation in protest against alleged rise in attacks on members of the minority community.
They were protesting the recent alleged assault on a pastor in Dhenkanal district and the killing of a youth belonging to a minority community on suspicion of cow theft in Balasore district.
Pradesh Youth Congress president Ranjit Patra alleged, “While atrocities against the minorities are increasing, the CM is sitting silently. We need a reply from the government.”
The Congress leader said Pastor Bipin Nayak was assaulted, forced to drink drainwater and paraded with a garland of shoes by a religious outfit. Similarly, in Balasore, a poor minority man was beaten to death allegedly by cattle protectors, he said.
He also claimed that poor people from West Bengal who come to Odisha to earn a livelihood are being harassed and branded as Bangladeshis.
“Is the Odisha CM unable to control this situation, or is the BJP encouraging it? If the CM is unable to protect the minority community, then he should resign,” Patra said.
The protestors were picked up from the agitation site and later released, police said.
PTI
