The Odisha assembly has moved a privilege motion against Abhijit Iyer-Mitra and demanded action against him for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.
New Delhi: Commentator and journalist Abhijit Iyer-Mitra has been detained by Delhi Police for a video where he made “derogatory remarks” about Odisha and the Sun Temple at Konark. According to some reports, he will soon be taken on remand by Odisha police.
Earlier Thursday, a privilege motion moved in the Odisha assembly demanded action against Iyer-Mitra for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. According to media reports, the Speaker of the assembly has given the go-ahead for an investigation in the matter by a House committee led by the leader of the opposition.
In a video he uploaded on social media 15 September, Iyer-Mitra said, “I am in the famous Konark Temple premises… This is not a temple but a humple where people are humping.
“See these sculptures…” he added, “Women with women, men with animals. Can this be a holy place? Not at all.
“This is a conspiracy against Hindus by Muslims who want to keep us down,” he said, “Jai Shri Ram. In our new Ram temple, such obscene sculptures will not be there.”
The journalist, who has over 17,000 followers on Twitter, is known to tweet provocative things. His Twitter profile states that he is “so Right Wing that he makes Genghis Khan look like an HR activist”.
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However, some have described the video as a joke, including Iyer-Mitra himself.
In a tweet posted immediately after the video, he said, “Jokes aside this temple is just mindblowing. The sculptures are exquisite & and it has a great sense of symmetry & gravitas.”
Among those who tweeted in his defence was former MP Jay Panda, who quit the state’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) earlier this year.
Panda said Mitra was just being “satirical”.
“But wait, he was satirical, & was in fact praising our ancient culture, & SC ruling on LGBTQ rights*So now…er,” he had posted.
Odisha 9: my special message to you from the Konark temple expressing my utter disgust at this monumental conspiracy against the Hindu Civilisation pic.twitter.com/wJeqZPHRDk
— Abhijit Iyer-Mitra (@Iyervval) September 16, 2018
Backlash
There is widespread furore in Odisha’s political circles against Iyer-Mitra.
“His video… with derogatory remarks against the art and sculpture of the Sun Temple… has deeply hurt the sentiments of Odisha,” said leader of the opposition in Odisha assembly Narasingha Mishra of the Congress.
“According to Mitra’s video, the naked sculptures at Konark Temple are against Hindu culture, and he said this was Muslim culture,” he added.
“A well-known politician of Odisha helped him in this,” he added, a purported reference to Panda.
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‘Taken to court’
Media reports quoted Iyer-Mitra’s lawyer as saying that he had been taken to Delhi’s Nizamuddin police station.
“He has been told that a case has been registered against him in Odisha,” the lawyer added, “He hasn’t been told what the case is or who has registered it. He hasn’t been given a copy of the FIR.”
“He’s being taken to Saket court for remand. We’re going there to oppose,” he said.
“We haven’t even been given a copy of the FIR so we can’t say what the offences are, who the complainant is, or under what sections the case has been registered,” he added.