Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ashok Sahu demanding stringent action against killers and conspirators of Swami laxmanananda Saraswati, has decided to resort to silent and passive protest and go on fast-unto-death while observing total silence, from the eighth day of completion of one week from the Independence Day.
Sahu, in a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday, said the killers and the conspirators for the Swami’s brutal murder are still at large though the incident took place as far back as on August 23, 2008. On the other hand, the violence that erupted soon after his murder as a spontaneous outburst among his numerous disciples in Kandhamal district has been investigated and in many cases the trial is also over, he said, alleging, “In the name of investigation, numerous poor and innocent tribal people have been subjected to untold injustice as they failed to defend themselves.”
The people of Odisha as a whole were defamed and humiliated on false charges of communalism, said Sahu and added that the Prime Minister called it a ‘national shame’ while addressing foreign gatherings abroad. People of the State silently endured with patience for long five years with the hope that the truth in the cases would come out and the State’s lost prestige would be restored, but all went in vain, stated Sahu, adding, “You as our leader never thought it appropriate to defend Odisha against these false charges.”
Notably, the Chief Minister had assured the people of the State on December 19, 2008 to solve the crime at the earliest with adequate evidence against the culprits.
Sahu urged Patnaik to gear up the criminal justice system to complete the investigation and resume trial of the Swami murder case and nun rape case in the light of the observations of the High Court. “After seven days, if nothing is done, in order to assert our rights and fight against injustice, I will sit on silent fasting unto death as a passive protest, as my last resort,” said Sahu.