Claiming that there now exist at least 21 temples in the Utkal University campus at Vani Vihar, a newly-formed political party has approached the Odisha High Court seeking demolition of all the religious structures inside educational institutions in the State.
Represented by its general secretary B Ramachandra CST Voltair, the Freethought Party of India on Monday filed a PIl arraigning the State Government and the Utkal University authorities as respondents to the petition.
The petitioner maintains that the university has been observing Rath Yatra in the campus for over two decades, and recently the university authorities installed a statue of Goddess Saraswati at the entrance of the campus at a cost of over `4.5 lakh.
“This ugly degradation must be arrested and the university, instead of functioning as a theocratic entity of medieval times, must work hard to remove blind beliefs and dark practices that have religious connotations,” said the petitioner’s advocate Khirod Chandra Rout, adding that the writ has not yet been listed for adjudication.
Annexing photographs of temples in the campus and the information obtained through an RTI application, the PIl alleges that the university authorities are engaged in various nefarious activities like installation of idols, construction of temples, holding Rath Yatra and collection of subscriptions in the name religious activities.
Stating that the authorities are violating provisions of Articles 25, 26, 28, 14, 16 and 51-A of the Constitution by allowing religious structures in educational campuses, the petition has sought judicial intervention for immediate demolition of all religious structures in educational institutions.