Victory Celebration of Lord Jagannath to Be Held – Uma Ballabh Rath
Puri, 19/04 – Following the Supreme Court’s verdict declaring the land acquisition for Vedanta University in Puri as illegal, a wave of joy and enthusiasm has swept across the farmers of Puri district. The full credit for this victory goes to Lord Jagannath, said Uma Ballabh Rath, convener of the Anti-Vedanta University Struggle Committee and former MLA. To mark this triumph, a grand Victory Celebration of Lord Jagannath will be organized in Puri in the month of May.
Presiding over a meeting held today at local Beldal, organized by the Anti-Vedanta University Struggle Committee, Shri Rath announced that on the sacred day of Akshaya Tritiya (23-04-23), farmers will symbolically reclaim their rights over their farmlands by sowing a handful of seeds from their own fields.
A grand Victory Procession is also planned for the upcoming month of May, in which notable personalities like senior Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan, Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar, political leaders from across the state, environmentalists, social workers, and farmers will participate. Nearly 10,000 people are expected to take part in this event.
The full text of the Supreme Court judgment will be translated into Odia and distributed among the public. Along with this, the event will also highlight how, for the past 17 years, the state government had imposed a dictatorial regime, subjecting farmers to physical, financial, and mental distress, and how this verdict marks the end of that chapter. The demand will also be raised for the government to return the farmers’ lands.
Today’s significant meeting was attended by panchayat presidents and officials from all the villages of 22 mouzas, including Damodar Pradhan (President of the Anti-Vedanta University Struggle Committee), Bishtu Prasad Mishra, Gangadhar Pradhan, Uma Charan Pradhan, Laxman Pradhan, Ravi Samantray, senior social worker Devi Prasad Prusty, NCP state president Bikram Swain, Kailash Swain, Parshuram Pradhan, Madhusudan Rautray, Madhav Parida, Haraprasad Jena, Rajkishore Jena, Gangadhar Pradhan, Kishore Pradhan, Shivprasad Behera, Rajkishore Swain, Avinash Mishra, and youth leader Swadhin Kumar Panda, among others.
