UP lawlessness
Dr SK Pandey
Former UP Chief Minister Mayawati's statue has been beheaded in Ambedkar Park Lucknow. The attack was allegedly carried out by activists from Navnirman Sena. UP CM Akhilesh Yadav has condemned the act and has ordered that the statue to be reconstructed.
The Navnirman Sena has also distributed visuals of the act. The white marble statue installed in the Bhimrao Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthal was damaged on July 26 afternoon. A big hammer was apparently used to vandalise the face and head of the statue. Heavy police force have been deployed at the spot. In Lucknow, there are nine statues of Mayawati and 156 statues of elephants, while in Noida there are two statues of Mayawati and 52 elephants.
A little known political outfit of UP, Navnirman Sena has taken the responsibility of the incident. The Sena leaders held a press conference after the incident. They said that their volunteers have broken the statute. Sena leaders said that they have asked Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to issue directions for removal of all statues of Mayawati installed at various places in the State. They said that this is their way to express anger against the scams which took place under the Mayawati regime. They have given an ultimatum of 48 hours to the government for removing all Mayawati's statues.
According to the security personnel at Ambedkar Park, six people in two bikes came, and before anybody could realise anything, they took out hammers and 'beheaded' the statue. It may be mentioned that the security of the parks and memorials in the name of dalit icons built by Mayawati was reduced substantially after Samajwadi Party (SP) came to power in March this year.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leaders have rushed to the spot after this news came in. Leader of Opposition in the State and senior BSP leader Swami Prasad Maurya has held the SP government responsible for the incident. He said that this is an unfortunate incident which reflects anti-dalit mentality. He said that the BSP and dalits will give a befitting reply.
Senior police officials rushed to the spot. Heavy police was deployed in the area. Security arrangements at other dalit memorials in Lucknow have been increased. Before coming to power, the SP had said that it will demolish Mayawati's statutes, but later said it will not resort to vendetta politics.
UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has condemned damaging of Mayawati's statue. He said that the act has been done by anti-social elements to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere in the State. He said that State government will get the statue repaired.
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