Ambedkar statue vandalised in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district (Source: ANI)
A statue of Dalit icon B R Ambedkar was allegedly vandalised late on Tuesday night in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district, the latest in a series of attacks on statues of political and ideological figures across the country.
The incident, reported at Khurd village in Mawana, triggered severe protest with several members from the Dalit community taking to the streets on Wednesday. The agitators also put up a road blockade demanding immediate action against the miscreants.
Mawana Sub-divisional Magistrate (SDM) Ankush Srivastava told The Indian Express on phone: “A statue of BR Ambedkar was vandalised in Khurd village of Mawana here last night and we have reached the spot in the morning. We have got a new and even bigger statue of Ambedkar installed at the place. Adequate police force has been deployed in the region to prevent escalation of tension.”
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Police have also lodged a report against anti-social elements in this connection, but no arrests have been made so far, he said.
The incident came to light hours after the Home Ministry sent an advisory to all state governments and Union Territories to take strong action to prevent such incidents. The advisory makes all District Magistrates and Senior Superintendents of Police accountable for such incidents.
A statue of Communist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin was brought down in Tripura following the BJP’s victory in the state assembly election overthrowing the Left, which was in power for more than 25 years.
On Tuesday, a statue of social reformer Ramasamy Periyar was stoned in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore district, allegedly by a BJP worker, who has since been taken into custody.
Meanwhile, criticising the vandalism of statues, the BSP asked the BJP to stop the “drama” of issuing statements and take steps to end the violence.
“The spate of political violence and hatred started after the installation of new governments in the north-eastern states needs to be condemned… It is because of this kind of politics that there is tension and insecurity all around,” BSP chief Mayawati said.
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- Gulzara Singh AzadMar 8, 2018 at 7:58 amThis is new technique of BJP-RSS combo to pass the buck to others when quietly letting their guys do all this nonsensical actions . I fear that soon situation like Sri Lanka may exist every corner of india as even BJP Ministers indulge in beating persons on the road , recently a truck driver was beaten by a UP Minister fir not allowing his car to overtake the truck . This should tell us what we can expect from BJP once they replace Congress or CPI etc all over the country. We , the law abiding citizens must be willing to take all this nuisance dumped on us by BJP stooges . God bless the Nation !!!! does Patriotism mean doing all this ? Soon they would want names of trains , cities , roads , ins utions and even crematorium to change in sink with their ideology leaving aside the History e.g. They may want Carnac Bunder to Veer Sawarkar Port and Bhikaji Cama place to Deendayal Place etc etc as they are very obsessed with such fundas. Jai Hind and Vande MatramReply
