After Lenin and Periyar, Ambedkar statue vandalized in UP

LUCKNOW: After Lenin and Periyar statues, miscreants have now vandalized a statue of Dalit icon Bhimrao Ambedkar in Meerut district in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, police said.

The incident took place in Khurd village early in the morning and was noticed by villagers and others.

Senior district officials rushed to the spot and security forces were deployed in large numbers.

The incident comes after a Lenin statue was toppled in Tripura and a statue of Periyar was broken in Tamil Nadu by suspected BJP activists.

Even politicians are condemning and expressing their anger over desecration of statues.

Dalit activist John Dayal condemned the incident said, “From statues to human beings, we are just a step away. And this is scary. This has to be condemned. H Raja should be arrested immediately for creating hatred among communities. It’s a criminal act, and I am surprised that BJP did not throw him out. It’s going to affect the party severly in South. Tripura governor Tathagatha Roy’s statement has only added fuel to the fire and he should not have tweeted that,” told Dayal, reported News18.

The vandalising of statues has triggered a protest and the Dalit community are furious with the action. They held a protest and blocked traffic Wednesday morning, reported ANI.

The protest was ended only after assurance from the district administration that a new Statue of Baba Saheb would be installed.

IANS inputs