BJP, Congress step up agitation over black stole issue

Stepping up their agitation against the BJD government in Odisha, the opposition BJP and Congress today took to streets blaming Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik over police allegedly forcing women to remove their black stoles at his meeting in Sundargarh district on Sunday.
BJP's women wing state unit president Pravati Parida made a formal complaint with the Odisha Human Rights Commission alleging that constitutional rights and dignity of women were hampered at the Chief Minister's meeting.
She sought the rights panel's intervention into the matter.
"The police and BJD workers forced women to remove their black colour stoles/scarves/shawls at the venue of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's meeting in Sundergarh district," Parida said in the petition to the OHRC.

Stating that it was against Odisha's culture, Parida alleged the women who had gone to attend the meeting were subjected to "sexual torture under Chief Minister's orders."
"Removal of black stoles/scarves/shawls from the bodies of the women has violated their fundamental rights and comments on clothes of women in public have infringed upon their human rights," she said.

While, BJP activists in all blocks and urban pockets of the state staged agitation against the state government and burnt effigies of the CM as a mark of protest against the Sundergarh incident.
Women activists of Congress also staged agitation in the state capital wearing black dresses.

"The police under instruction of the Chief Minister has disgraced the women community of the state," women Congress state president Sasmita Behera said.
Meanwhile, Patnaik has ordered an inquiry into the alleged incident and asked the Director General of Police to ensure that such incident do not take place elsewhere in the state.
The state Assembly on Monday remained stalled for the day over the same issue when Opposition parties demanded unconditional apology from the Chief Minister.
"We will raise the issue tomorrow in the House," said a senior Congress lawmaker.