Odisha Assembly passes motion to forgive Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, recommends providing him books on state's culture

New Delhi: The Odisha Assembly on Saturday passed a motion to forgive journalist Abhijit Iyer-Mitra who had allegedly made “derogatory remarks” against MLAs, the state of Odisha, and the Konark Sun Temple. On the first day of the Assembly Session, a house committee which was formed to investigate the matter recommended the remission in its report which was submitted to the Assembly Speaker Pradeep Amat. [caption id=“attachment_5255571” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Screen grab of Abhijit Iyer-Mitra from his Konark Temple video. Twitter @Iyervval[/caption] On the basis of the committee’s recommendation, a motion to forgive Mitra was moved in the Assembly, which was accepted by the House. It is worth mentioning that he had already apologised before the committee. The committee also recommended providing him books on Odisha’s history and culture. On 7 November, a camp court at Jharpada Jail had reserved its verdict on Abhijit Iyer Mitra’s bail plea and extended his judicial custody for 14 days. On 3 November, journalist Mitra had deposed before the house committee of the Odisha Assembly and submitted an affidavit over his alleged derogatory remarks against the state legislators and the Konark Sun Temple. On 23 October, Mitra was arrested by the Bhubaneshwar Police in connection with the case filed at Saheed Nagar police station over his derogatory remarks against legislators and Konark Sun Temple. He was taken into custody by the state police after he appeared before the house committee of the Odisha Legislative Assembly. During a visit to the Konark Sun Temple on 16 September this year, Mitra had posted a satirical video on Twitter, where he allegedly made derogatory remarks insulting Odisha, its culture, tradition and the lawmakers.