Odisha Renames Kandhamal Medical College After Swami Laxmanananda; Left Parties Cry Foul
By Muktikant Mohanty
Bhubaneswar, July 29: The Odisha government’s decision to rename the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) at Phulbani after slain Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati has sparked a political row, with Left parties alleging that the move could reopen communal fault lines in Kandhamal, the site of one of the state’s worst episodes of sectarian violence.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced the decision on Monday, describing the renaming as a tribute to Saraswati’s decades-long work in promoting education and the welfare of tribal communities in Kandhamal.
In a parallel decision, the state government approved a Rs 13-crore financial package for the development of the Jalespata Ashram, where Saraswati lived and worked. The assistance, to be provided from the Chief Minister’s Special Assistance Fund, includes Rs 5 crore for constructing a 300-seat girls’ hostel, Rs 3 crore for the conservation and development of the ashram, and Rs 60 lakh for a river-lift water supply project. Additional funds have been earmarked for new classrooms, hostel buildings, toilets, boundary walls and the renovation of existing infrastructure.
Saraswati was shot dead by armed assailants at the Jalespata Ashram on August 23, 2008, along with four associates. His assassination triggered widespread communal violence across Kandhamal, leaving at least 39 people dead, damaging or destroying hundreds of churches, displacing thousands of residents and leading to nearly 800 criminal cases.
The government’s announcement drew an immediate backlash from the CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML)-Liberation and the All India Forward Bloc, which issued a joint statement opposing the renaming of the medical college.
The Left parties argued that a public medical institution should be named after an individual who commands broad public acceptance and embodies the values of humanity, secularism, social harmony and public service.
CPI(M) state secretary Suresh Panigrahi said associating the institution with Saraswati risked reviving painful memories of the 2008 communal violence and could undermine Odisha’s long-standing secular ethos. He also questioned the government’s decision to sanction Rs 13 crore for the Jalespata Ashram, alleging that public funds should not be used to support institutions linked to any ideological or communal agenda.
Calling for a reconsideration of the decision, the Left parties proposed that the medical college instead be named after Chakra Bisoyi, the legendary tribal freedom fighter who led the Kandha community in a prolonged guerrilla resistance against British rule in the Ghumusar-Kandhamal region. They said Bisoyi’s contribution to India’s freedom struggle and his enduring legacy among tribal communities made him a more appropriate choice for a state-run medical institution.
