Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday expressed concerns over eminent intellectual Natabar Khuntia’s Facebook post. Recently, Khuntia made a comparative study of Odisha’s current political situation with the history in his post.
After going through the post, Pradhan stated that Khuntia has rightly compared the current social and political situation of Odisha with its history.
As per Pradhan, the post is an informative one and everybody should read it.
Besides, Pradhan questioned who is currently Govinda Vidyadhara as described in Khuntia’s post? He further stated that the reason why Prataprudra Dev involved Govinda Vidyadhara in running the state affairs then was also a big question.
The Union Minister wrote, “Will another Govinda Vidyadhara come through the back door and the people of the State will welcome him?”
Pradhan said that the famous poem of eminent poet Godabarish Mohapatra- ‘Uta kankala, chhidu shrunkhala’ should be reminded.
“After reading the post of Natabar babu, I am pondering how correct and relevant it is, considering the current political situation in Odisha?” wrote Pradhan.
Responding to the development, Khuntia said, “I have come from a village. I have self-respect. However, the present situation in the state has grieved me. I don’t belong to any political party. I am ashamed of the kind of governance in my State. So I was forced to give my opinion in this regard,” said Khuntia.
“We have a democratic system of governance. The Chief Minister and the Prime Minister are our representatives. They will make decisions as per the provision in the constitution and not as per their whims. The constitution doesn’t allow the Chief Minister to depute the 5T Secretary to visit across the state to hear the grievances of people,” he added.
“Khuntia has raised many serious issues and pertinent questions by comparing the current political situation of the state with the history. He has also raised question mark over providing basic amenities to the state people. Moreover, he has expressed concerns over the deviation of constitutional provisions in the governance of the state. Quoting an example from history, he has stated how this kind of situation has put Odisha in trouble in the past,” said senior journalist, Prasanna Mohanty.