BHUBANESWAR: Upping the ante in her war of words with the BJD government on the Srimandir and Ekamra Kshetra projects, Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi on Sunday urged Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to come clean on the issue and explain the rationale behind destroying heritage structures in the name of conservation.
Shooting off a letter to the Chief Minister, the BJP parliamentarian expressed her anguish over what she termed reckless vandalisation of invaluable monuments and asked him to explain who were responsible for the “carnage of the two heritage sites”.
“I would consider the present ‘heritage development’ as one of the most unique initiatives in the world where heritage is sought to be conserved by destroying it.
I would like you to clarify whether all these demolitions were undertaken with your instruction or were taken up by bureaucrats without your knowledge,” Sarangi questioned. The MP has taken a strident posture against the two ambitious projects of the State government after her ‘missing’ posters were purportedly pasted in prominent places of the State Capital recently. She has taken a completely opposite stand to that of her senior party colleagues and Central ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Pratap Sarangi.
Sarangi alleged such brazen action of the government was done during the reign of Naveen Patnaik, one of the founding members of INTACH, making it all the more unbelievable. Who is the ‘heritage conservationist’ advising the government on demolition of monuments that are integral part of the Jagannath cult, she asked. Sharing a note explaining the importance of the mutts, some of which are integral to the daily rituals of the presiding deities of Srimandir, Sarangi said the razed mutts have played a vital role in the cultural and religious renaissance of Puri and the whole of Odisha.
Questioning the credentials of the architectural firms engaged for heritage development, Sarangi dared the Chief Minister to reveal the names of the firms empanelled by any state PSU for sake of transparency under the 5T initiative. “The people of Odisha would definitely be interested to know as to who took the decision that the beautification work could not be taken up by integrating the mutts and library into the overall architectural plan,” she said.
Enclosing INTACH reports and photographs of the razed monuments, she said the people of the State will not pardon this attempt of the government to wipe out the rich legacy attached to the temples of Lord Jagannath and Lord Lingaraj in the name development. Stating that she will always support any development work within the framework of law, the BJP leader suggested the CM to set up a committee comprising a senior officer of ASI, State archaeology and members of INTACH and experts on heritage conservation to assess the scale of destruction and suggest measures to rebuild the structures.
BJD hits out at BJP MP
Bhubaneswar: The ruling BJD on Sunday hit out at Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi after she again raised embarrassing questions over the beautification projects taken up by Odisha government around Jagannath temple at Puri and Ekamra Kshetra in a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
“It is baffling why Sarangi was silent for so long and raising this issue one and half years after the projects took off,” Manas Mangaraj, BJD’s general secretary (media affairs) and media advisor to government said. Referring to Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s support to the project, Mangaraj said, “In fact, her fellow party members have another view on this.” Stating that Sarangi is new to the BJP, Mangaraj said she should have consulted her seniors in the party before making all these statements. “Since Sarangi is non-Odia, she can’t understand the Odia sentiments towards Lord Jagannath and Lord Lingaraj,” he said.