Save Vedanta University in Puri Campaign in Facebook and beyond
December 23rd, 2010
Dear all:
By now most of you must be aware that the Odisha government as well as the Vedanta University authorities have gone to Supreme Court. One can draw two inferences from that.
(i) The Odisha government is standing behind its decision. [Some may consider that it did not have a choice. Perhaps. On the other hand, in the past, the CM had disassociated himself from people (ministers and officers) linked to controversies so that he does not get tainted. He could have done that here. But he seems to be standing behind the project and believe in it and its importance to Odisha. He seems to have taken a personal risk to his reputation by standing behind the project.]
(ii) The fact that the Vedanta University people also went to the supreme court means that they are still interested in having it in Odisha.
Now Supreme Court will take its time in giving a verdict. I am not sure if we can write to the supreme court or not. I am trying to find out as we do not want to take any missteps.
While hoping that the Supreme Court gives a favorable (towards Vedanta Univ) verdict, we should not just wait and do nothing. From past experience we know that the opponents will still try to create problems even after a favorable (towards Vedanta Univ) supreme court verdict.
So we must continue our efforts to spread the positives and virtues of Vedanta University and its impact on Odisha and India. We are doing that in facebook. Please help us there as well as through other channels of your choice.
The point is that the parameters of this project is unprecedented in India. Thus there is misunderstanding and opposition. The government is not doing that good a job in countering the misinformation. Nevertheless, the people who understand the project and its unprecedented implications to Odisha (that is we) must do our part. In the west when there is a controversial project, people from both sides speak. In Odisha the opponents are often small but make a lot of noise and drama while the supporters mostly keep quiet. With that happening repeatedly no wonder Odisha despite being resource rich it is at the bottom of most human development parameters. We need to break that pattern starting from this project.
We need to come out in the open and speak up.
To help in that we have consolidated various information on the issue at http://on.fb.me/vedantau . I am giving them below. Please read some of the statements in that list. It is very encouraging. If you have not done so, please write your statement and send them to me. I would still like to make a collection of those statements and give it to various people in Odisha.
Links to some of the statements:
4. http://on.fb.me/vedantau-s1 : Why Vedanta University is important for Odisha? A statement by Dr. Dhanada Mishra, Bhubaneswar.
5. http://on.fb.me/vedantau-s2 : Vedanta University – Will You Gain? A slide presentation by Devasis Sarangi, Bhubaneswar
6. http://on.fb.me/vedantau-s4 : Vedanta University is an academic question. An appeal to Odisha academics by Professor S P Misra, Bhubaneswar.
7. http://on.fb.me/vedantau-s5 : Why we need Vedanta University in Odisha? A statement by Manmohan Dash, currently at Bhubaneswar.
8. http://on.fb.me/vedantau-s6 : Why Vedanta University is important for Odisha? A statement by Sujeet Jena, originally from Puri, Currently in Sydney, Australia.
9. http://on.fb.me/vedantau-s7 : I am propagating the project. What will I get? Umashankar Das (currently at Bangalore) answers questions posed to him on his support for Vedanta University.
Action Items:
(a) Please spread the word.
(b) Send me your statements (if you have not done so)
(c) Show support in face book: Click on "like" in http://www.facebook.com/
We now have more than 1200 well educated people (mostly Odias) openly showing their support in Facebook through likes and friends links. More than 70% of them are from India. So this is not an NRI thing. On purpose we focused on India.
(d) In general, lets not sit quiet; lets do our part as a well-wisher of Odisha.
best regards
Chitta Baral
Entry Filed under: Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Puri- Khurda area (1),Vedanta University, Puri