Yogi vows to act tough against statue vandals

Taking serious view of attempts to disturb peace in the State by vandalising statues of prominent icons, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday directed officials to take stern action against those involved in such activities.

Yogi asked officers that incident like Meerut where Dalit icon Dr BR Ambedkar’s statue was vandalised should not be repeated. The CM’s directions come amid a spate of incidents targeting statues and busts of icons in the country reported in the last 24 hours.

Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Home Minister have already expressed concern on Wednesday and issued orders to check such unlawful activities hurting the sentiments of the public.

“Maintaining law and order is the priority of the State and the Government will take strict action against those involved in vitiating it. District police chiefs should remain alert and ensure security of statues of icons,” Yogi asserted in Lucknow on Thursday.

Through an official communique released in Lucknow on Thursday evening, Yogi said that strict action be taken against those involved in the Meerut incident and measures be taken to ensure that such incidents did not recur. The statue of Dr Ambedkar was vandalised on Tuesday and replaced by the administration on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, a bust of Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee was damaged in Kolkata after the razing of statues of Soviet icon Vladimir Illyich Uliyanov aka Lenin in Tripura a day before.

A day after Dravidian movement founder E V Ramasamy Periyar’s bust was also desecrated in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore triggering widespread protests across the state.

Meanwhile reports from Ballia confirmed that a statue of Lord Hanuman was desecrated in Kharuav village triggering tension in the area on Thursday.

Station House Officer, Nagra, Ram Dinesh Tiwari said that the statue was damaged and a poster was found pasted on it on Wednesday. The police have lodged a case against unidentified persons on a complaint by Kharuav village pradhan Dushyant Singh and the matter was being investigated. While no arrests could be made, heavy police orc havebeen deputed to avert any clash between the two communities.