Statue politics reaches UP, B R Ambedkar's statue vandalised by miscreants in Meerut

After Lenin and Periyar statues, a statue of B R Ambedkar was vandalized in Meerut district on Wednesday morning, reports said. This is the second case of statue vandalism today and the fourth in this week.

The statue of Dalit icon BR Ambedkar was vandalised in Mawana district on Tuesday night, the police officials told media. A case has been registered against unknown people, they added.

Dalit community held protest and blocked traffic in the morning, ended the protest after assurance from the administration of installation of new statue.

A new statue of Ambedkar has been installed at the same place by the local police after the incident to maintain peace and calm in the area.

A row has erupted after two statutes of Lenin were brought down in Tripura following the BJP's emphatic win in the state over the Left, which was in power for more than 25 years. On Tuesday, miscreants vandalised the bust of social reformer and founder of Dravidian movement EV Ramasamy "Periyar" in Tamil Nadu's Vellore district.

In the latest in the statue wars, a bust of BJP icon Syama Prasad Mookerjee was damaged in Kolkata this morning.

The Left blamed the BJP for the incidents and some BJP leaders shared the post with comments that appeared to be justifying it. BJP national secretary H Raja later in a Facebook post said the statues Dravidian movement icon E V R Ramasamy, popularly known as Periyar, will be the next target.

He later deleted the post and offered his regret but not before it had ignited a major controversy in Tamil Nadu.

Following the incidents, Prime Minister Narendra Modi intervened in the matter, expressing his strong disapproval against such acts of vandalism, a statement by the Ministry of Home Affairs said.

On the orders of the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Home Affairs also issued an advisory to all states to prevent such acts of vandalism.

OneIndia News