Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi today assured Nepal Government that the State would take strict action in the unfortunate incident happened in KIIT University.
The Chief Minister talked to Nepal’s Foreign Minister Arju Rana Deuba over phone and stated that all guilty individuals involved in the matter would face strict action.
The death of a Nepali girl student on February 16 last triggered unrest in the KIIT University, which had asked all the Nepali students to vacate the campus on February 17.
However, the order was later withdrawn by the University following intervention of the Odisha Government and Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli who had deputed two embassy officials to Bhubaneswar to counsel the affected Nepali students.
The Chief Minister emphasized that Nepali students studying in Odisha would be treated with full respect. He assured that the State Government is closely monitoring the situation and taking all necessary steps to restore the students’ confidence and sense of security.
Nepal Embassy officials Naveen Raj Nirukh and Sanjiv Sharma Das also met Shri Majhi at Lok Seva Bhavan to discuss the issue. During the discussions, the Chief Minister informed the officials that 10 people had been arrested in connection with the incident. He also stated that the government had taken all necessary measures to restore a conducive academic atmosphere at the KIIT campus.
The Nepalese officials appreciated the Odisha Government’s prompt response and stated that students from Nepal, along with their parents, now feel reassured.
They expressed their gratitude to the Odisha Government, particularly the Chief Minister, on behalf of the Nepalese Government and hoped that the long-standing relationship between Nepal and Odisha would remain strong.
Meanwhile, Congress activists staged a demonstration before the KIIT, demanding the immediate arrest of KIIT founder Achyuta Samanta. A large number of youth and student activists of Congress staged the protest before the main gate of the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) and burnt effigy of Samanta.
A scuffle broke out between the security personnel and the agitators when Congress workers attempted to barge into the KIIT campus.
The Congress activists held the demonstration a day after the party MLAs in the assembly demanded a judicial inquiry into the death of a 20-year-old Nepalese student and subsequently, the alleged attack on pupils from the neighbouring country.
Similarly, senior Congress leader and former Chief Secretary Bijay Patnaik alleged that there was “racial discrimination” among students at KIIT as the Nepalese students alone were evicted from the campus.
The private institute’s staffers also used insulting words against Nepal, which has close ties with India, he claimed. Patnaik also wondered about the alleged “silence” of the University Grants Commission (UGC) or the Central Government over the KIIT incidents.
“The KIIT should immediately be issued a show cause notice asking it to explain why its ‘Deemed to be University’ status would not be withdrawn for the racial and discriminatory activities,” he alleged.
Reacting to this, Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj said that the State Government was committed to taking stringent action in the KIIT incidents.
The Government is waiting for the findings of a high-level committee, he said, adding that eight top functionaries of KIIT, including its founder, have deposed before the government panel and recorded their statement on the incidents.
“Based on the findings of the committee, the government will initiate action,” Suraj said.
The police are also investigating the matter and at least 10 people including bouncers, security guards and other officials of the institute, have been arrested so far, the Minister said.
He said the police took action based on the evidence from the CCTV footage.
Referring to the death of the female student, the Minister said one person has been arrested on the charge of abetment to suicide and police have been verifying his involvement in harassing the student.
“The police have sent a viral audio clip for the voice spectrograph test to ascertain its authenticity,” the Minister said, adding that if found true, a case under IT Act will also be framed against the accused.