Devbrat Patnaik

Bhubaneshwar: The State Assembly House Committee today sought an affidavit from Delhi-based journalist Abhijit Iyer-Mitra in connection with his derogatory remarks on Odisha, Konark Sun Temple and the State MLAs.

The decision was taken following a meeting of the House committee chaired by Narasingha Mishra in presence of other members of the panel after Iyer deposed before the Committee today.

"Iyer-Mitra has been directed to appear before the House Committee with his affidavit on November 2. The investigation will continue and after he files his affidavit, discussion will be held on all aspects and then only the panel will take the final decision," Mishra said after the two-phase hearing on the row.

During the first phase hearing, Abhijit Iyer apologised before the House Committee while his statement was also recorded by the panel.

Iyer was earlier arrested in New Delhi and also produced before the Saket Court there where he was granted bail.

While Abhijit still remains in the eye of storm, it is pertinent to note that he had sought apology through a mail he sent to the House Committee mentioning that he has committed an ‘unpardonable mistake’ and accepted his fault.

A few days later, he again sought an apology before the media claiming that the intent of the video he had posted on the Sun Temple was never to hurt the sentiments of the people. “If I have hurt any sentiments, I apologise for that unreservedly. But the intent of the video was never to hurt anybody’s sentiments,” he had said.

Asked about his abusive Twitter posts on the MLAs, Iyer stated, “My Twitter account is more for fun and I don’t use it as a professional account. If you actually read my research writing, you will see that a lot of it is always praising Odisha and I will continue to do so. Some of the nastier things I said about the CM, his office, the Assembly, I was under immense stress and so I would like to apologise for that.”

It may be mentioned here that Iyer had failed to turn up before the Committee earlier to which he later thanked the Assembly for extending the period.

Mitra, while speaking to news agency ANI had stated that he would be cooperating in the investigation process. "I would like to state that I will be always cooperating with any investigation anytime anywhere which has been my stance from day one."

scrollToTop