Now, Ambedkar Statue Vandalised in Haridwar, Uttarakhand
Image Courtesy: Hindustan Times
A statue of Dalit icon B.R. Ambedkar was on Friday found vandalised by miscreants in a village in Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, sparking tension, police said. The case was reported after a series of such incidents in Tripura, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
Earlier, in Tripura, BJP-IPFT activists and supporters brought down the statue of Vladimir Lenin, the revolutionary communist icon, after their victory in the recently concluded assembly election. The state has been witnessing the violent attacks by the same BJP-IPFT activists.
Following the Tripura incident, a statue of Dravidian icon Periyar, also known as EV Ramaswamy, was vandalised. The vandalisation took place after a provocative Facebook post by the BJP leader H Raja. In another case, Dr. BR Ambedkar’s statue was vandalized by unidentified people in Mawana, Meerut in Uttar Pradesh on March 6.
A district official of Haridwar said the miscreants damaged the statue in Kanhawaali village while it was dark. Inspector Bhagwan Mehar and Sub-Divisional Magistrate Kaustubh Mishra visited the spot to pacify protesters, mostly Dalits.
Authorities said the statue of Ambedkar was damaged in the past too, adding that a dispute was on between two villagers over the land on which it had been installed.
Police said the vandalism could be a result of this dispute. "We are trying to trace the miscreants," the official said.
(Inputs from IANS)
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