Ambedkar statue desecrated again in UP,state administration on alert

Allahabad/Lucknow, Dec 6 (UNI) Adequate security measures have been made in Uttar Pradesh today after some anti-social elements yesterday damaged the statue of Baba Saheb Bheemrao Ambedkar in front of the law faculty of the Allahabad University.

According to the reports, the right arm of the statue was broken, while other parts of the statue including the face was also damaged.

Protesting this, activists of the Bahujan Chhatra Sabha blocked the roads and forced shopkeepers to close their shops.

At the civil lines main crossing, police resorted to mild lathi charge to disperse the mob, in which some of them sustained minor injuries.

Heavy police force has been deployed near the University campus and at the statue of Dr Bheemrao Ambedkar at the Allahabad High court crossing, where the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has organised a programme to observe the 50th death anniversary of Dr Ambedkar.

Meanwhile, the state government has ordered a high level probe into the alleged incident in Allahabad, in which a hand of Dr Ambedkar's statue was found missing.

The incident comes on the heels of a similar case of desecration of a statue of Dr B R Ambedkar in Kanpur on November 28, which sparked off violent protests in Maharashtra. The issue was echoed in Parliament as well.

The statue was unveiled by Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav on December 18, 1997 when he was the Defence Minister in the Union Cabinet.

State PWD Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav said such incidents were the 'handiwork' of some vested forces aiming to derive political mileage by throwing the state into communal and casteist violence.

''The government is committed to communal harmony and will not allow anyone to take the law in their hands,'' he said.

The minister said that some communal and castiest political parties are behind such incidents but refused to name them.

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