Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh on Monday installed a statue of Babasaheb BR Ambedkar, Father of the Indian Constitution, in a Badaun village painted saffron. The saffron statue replaces the statue of Babasaheb Ambedkar which had been vandalised in a Badaun village. It must be noted that the usually Babasaheb Ambedkar’s statue is in blue.
This move has taken many by surprise and is likely to further upset Dalits, already angry after increasing incidents of violence and discrimination against them under the Yogi Government, after the dilution of certain stringent provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by a Supreme Court judgment, and after comments by BJP leaders including union ministers on changing the Indian constitution.
Earlier the Lal Bahadur Shastri Bhawan and the Haj Committee office were also painted saffron. Later the Hajj House was repainted after much protest.