The Freethought Party of India (FPI) strongly advocated for demolition of all religious institutions and discontinuance of religious rites in academic campuses on the occasion of the 184th birthday of British Statesman Charles Bradlaugh.
FPI vice president Harish Chandra Kar chaired the function. Former Union Minister Braja Kishore Tripathy, gracing the occasion as chief guest, observed that academic institution should not hold religious festivals inside the campus, nor should they have temples and mosques etc.
Chief speaker Prof Dr KP Padhy pleaded that Article 28(1) of the Constitution has specifically banned religious instructions from being given in academic institutions wholly maintained out of State funds. He urged that authorities of academic institutions should abide by it.
Party general secretary B Ramchandra CST Voltaire said that it was quite unbecoming on the part of the authorities of Utkal University to have 21 Hindu temples inside its campus and organize the Rath Yatra.
Among others, former bureaucrat Kalyan Ray, CERI Odisha chief Manas Jena, Odisha Dalit Adhikar Mancha (ODAM) advisor MS Yadav, Tusarkanta, Prof Dhaneswar Sahoo, Pradipta Nayak, , Prof. Prasanna Kumar Karabar and Swapna Bijayini were present.
