BHUBANESWAR: A power outage four minutes after the president Draupadi Murmu’s speech during the summons of the Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanja Deo University in his native Mayurbhanj district on Saturday he exposed obvious security holes in the venue and risks to the Mayor during the tours.
Even though the Odisha government and the university launched separate investigations to find out how the power lines tripped for a full nine minutes, plunging the entire indoor hall into darkness, security experts wondered why the president Murmu had not been taken from the headquarters. His face visible in a dim light, presenting a threat.
As her security guards took up positions in front of the dais and security personnel switched to night vision devices to monitor entry and exit points, the President continued her speech, asking the audience if it was audible. There was talk of sabotage while the microphone and air conditioners worked.
Light and dark exist in equal measure, says Prez Murmu
Former DGP Prakash Mishra said that it is surprising that the potential threat (audience side) was in the dark, while the dignitary was the only face visible due to a dim light. “The public is the side of the perceived threat, and they should be in the light and the dignitary should be in the dark. It is very risky to expose the dignitary to light,” he said.
The president modified a famous poem by Robert Frost to suit the situation: “Andhar Jetiki, Aloka Setiki ehe je gahana bana, chalibi chalibi na padi bi thaki,bujiba agaru aakahi”, which loosely translates to “Light and dark exist in equal measure. The woods are deep and dark, I will persist and keep walking until I fall asleep.
Even though the Odisha government and the university launched separate investigations to find out how the power lines tripped for a full nine minutes, plunging the entire indoor hall into darkness, security experts wondered why the president Murmu had not been taken from the headquarters. His face visible in a dim light, presenting a threat.
As her security guards took up positions in front of the dais and security personnel switched to night vision devices to monitor entry and exit points, the President continued her speech, asking the audience if it was audible. There was talk of sabotage while the microphone and air conditioners worked.
Light and dark exist in equal measure, says Prez Murmu
Former DGP Prakash Mishra said that it is surprising that the potential threat (audience side) was in the dark, while the dignitary was the only face visible due to a dim light. “The public is the side of the perceived threat, and they should be in the light and the dignitary should be in the dark. It is very risky to expose the dignitary to light,” he said.
The president modified a famous poem by Robert Frost to suit the situation: “Andhar Jetiki, Aloka Setiki ehe je gahana bana, chalibi chalibi na padi bi thaki,bujiba agaru aakahi”, which loosely translates to “Light and dark exist in equal measure. The woods are deep and dark, I will persist and keep walking until I fall asleep.
