Ambedkar statue vandalised in U.P., no arrests so far

In a fresh incident, a statue of Bhimrao Ambedkar was found damaged on Thursday in Firozabad district of Uttar Pradesh.

This comes despite strict instructions by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to district magistrates and district police chiefs to step up vigilance regarding the security of statues of popular icons and ensure communal harmony.

The latest incident was reported from Nagla Nande village in Sirsaganj. The upper right portion of the standing statue and right shoulder were found disfigured.

Police forces led by senior district officers rushed to the village located on the outskirts and calmed angry locals. The damaged statue was replaced with a fresh one by the police.

An FIR was lodged in the case against unknown miscreants under Section 295 of the Indian Penal Code (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class).

‘Politically motivated’

Station House Officer, Sirsaganj, R. K. Dubey said that while no arrests had been made yet, he suspected the incident to be politically motivated.

“There was no such atmosphere in the village. It seems like an act of mischief either by somebody who was drunk or by a person trying to vitiate the atmosphere in the current scenario to mobilise their people,” Mr. Dubey told The Hindu.

The police have formed peace committees at the local level under the village pradhan to ensure security for the new statue.

This the the third such incident in U.P. in a week and fifth since the Tripura Assembly election results when the razing of a statue of Lenin triggered a streak of attacks on other ideological icons.

A statue of Ambedkar was found decapacitated in Allahabad while another had its right arm and nose cut off in Siddharthnagar last Friday. In March, Ambedkar statues were found vandalised in Meerut, Aligarh and Azamgarh districts.