Why name an institution after a Britisher, asks Cuttack MP on Ravenshaw University name change row

Amidst the ongoing political slugfest over Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s remarks that the name of Ravenshaw University should be changed, Cuttack MP Bhartruhari Mahtab has once again thrown weight behind the proposal.

While speaking at a seminar in Bhubaneswar, the Cuttack MP said that there is a need to change the name of Ravenshaw University and the demand is nothing new. Earlier the voices to rechristen Ravenshaw College (now a university) grew after the completion of the merger of princely states to form greater Orissa province in 1949, he said.

According to Mahtab, several students’ organisations had also staged demonstrations and even the issue of renaming was discussed in Odisha Assembly during the tenure of the then Education Minister Pandit Lingaraj Mishra. The MP further said that why an institution should be named after a Britisher when it was funded by the Odias. He also questioned whether any institution outside has been named after an Odia.

“It is now 77 years that the country has attained its freedom. There have been repeated demands after 1949 to change the name of the institution. There was a discussion in Odisha Assembly when Pandit Lingaraj Mishra was the Education Minister,” he said.

According to Mahtab, a lot of students staged demonstrations and political leaders also supported them it in the past. “The Union Minister had called for a discussion on the name change issue. But, have we lost our intellect as human being and are stooping so low that personal attacks are mounting instead of deliberating on the matter?” Mahtab questioned.

Eminent litterateur Haraprasad Das said that the Ravenshaw University should be renamed after Gajapati Kapilendra Deba and it can be done if the Odisha government wants. “I also propose to change the name of Ravenshaw University. We have not been able to give credit to Gajapati Kapilendra Deba who had given identity to Odias and Odisha,” said Das.

BJD leader Sudhir Samal said, “Those, who have passed from Ravenshaw and those studying now, their identity is Ravenshaw University. The Union Minister had called for a discussion; it is going on and let it on.”

Meanwhile, Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati said, “Both BJD and BJP are doing this to remain in discussion. There is a need for discussion and debate on unemployment, development and corruption. But it is not happening and discussion is going on Ravenshaw. Those who have studied in Ravenshaw, they will never tolerate it.”