Watch the video of Abhijit Iyer Mitra Defaming World Heritage Konark Temple : https://youtu.be/zfemyp8tZtI

In our own ways, we all take immense pride in covering and popularising various aspects of Odisha, be it sports, food, photography, tourism. While we may differ in our opinion and perspectives on certain issues, the one thing that unites us all is our strong respect to the Odia culture, its roots and traditions.

A repulsive video has been circulating through various social media channels, in which Mr. Abhijit Iyer-Mitra (@Iyervval on Twitter) shows what we consider grievous disrespect to Odia culture, in particular, the Konark Temple. While we are usually light-hearted towards satire and sarcasm, the tone taken and the words uttered by Mr. Iyer-Mitra are reckless and he is merely resorting to excuses and disguising his filthy thoughts under the garb of sarcasm. He seems to be enjoying calling the Konark Temple a “hump-le”, without the minutest respect towards ancient cornerstones of the Hindu religion.

What makes it worse is that Mr. Baijayant Panda, a former Member of Parliament from Kendrapara, seems to have welcomed and entertained this man. On Twitter, Mr. Panda has promoted his own image and agenda by attending condolence meetings in Kendrapara by morning, then following it up by hanging out with Mr. Iyer-Mitra and wining and dining him, a fact that conveniently does not feature on his social feed. He has tried to distance himself by saying that "someone else visited temple ruins later and was rude" but still goes on to defend his associate by saying that the video was "satirical". Shameful conduct by an individual who otherwise pretends to be the true saviour of all things Odia. 

To dismiss this preposterous conduct as merely "rude" stinks of the intention to brush this issue under the carpet. Hinduism is and always was a very open-minded religion, and the artwork, sculptures and carvings at the Konark Temple are a formidable attestation of that fact. Mr. Iyer-Mitra shames the religion by proclaiming that the Konark temple is not a “Pavitra-sthan” (a pure place), but a “hump-le”. While he contemplates whether this might be a Muslim propaganda to suppress the altars of Hinduism, he concludes by saying that a true “Ram Mandir” (temple of Ram) will never have this, deeply undermining the purity of the institution, the Odia culture of tolerance and the amazing heritage that is Odisha’s Konark Temple.

We strongly condemn the remarks made by Mr. Iyer-Mitra about the Konark Temple. We feel it ridicules both the Hindu religion as well as Odia culture at large, the latter something we all are invested in protecting and propagating. People like Mr. Iyer-Mitra take cultural values too casually, and project a negative image of our state and its deep-rooted linkage with Hinduism - it’s ancient traditions and majestic artisanal work. 

We sincerely believe that those who seek cheap social media attention, going to any length to feed their online image, even risking the ire of an entire people deserve to be reminded that Odias today will not be made a mockery of and will not take such despicable actions lying down.

We request you to unite with us in demanding an unconditional public apology from Mr. Iyer-Mitra.