Abhijit Iyer-Mitra arrested for derogatory remarks against Odisha

Bhubaneswar, Sep 20
Defence expert Abhijit Iyer-Mitra was arrested in New Delhi for making a series of derogatory remarks against Odisha and its culture.

He was initially detained at Nizamuddin police station. Later, the Odisha Police arrested Abhijit in New Delhi and produced in Saket court, said police sources.

Meanwhile, a House committee of Odisha Assembly has been formed by Speaker Pradip Kumar Amat in an all-party meeting to probe the derogatory remarks by Abhijit Iyer Mitra on Odisha, its people and culture.

The committee will submit its report on the first day of the next session of the state Assembly.

The committee will be led by the Leader of the Opposition Narasingha Mishra as the chairperson while Debi Prasad Mishra, KV Singhdeo, Pramila Mallick, Arun Sahu and Sanjay Dasburma are members.

Prior to the formation of the committee, the leader of Opposition moved a privilege motion to summon Iyer-Mitra to the Assembly over alleged defamatory comments targeting Odisha MLAs.

Mishra said that the remarks of Abhijit Iyer Mitra have disrespected people of Odisha, Odia language and culture.

He demanded that Abhijit should be summoned to Odisha and the House should decide on the quantum of punishment.

Members cutting across the party lines criticised the derogatory statements of Abhijit on Odisha, Sun temple and Jagannath temple.

The Speaker had cancelled the Question Hour session and ordered a discussion on this issue.

On September 16, Abhijit had posted a video on twitter in which he was seen criticising the Konark temple. Later, he went on making alleged defematory remarks against Odia culture.

Working journalists also submitted a memorandum to Odisha Chief Minister, Assembly Speaker and Leader of Opposition demanding stringent action against Abhijit Iyer Mitra for his derogatory remarks against them.