PM Modi, Amit Shah condemn vandalism of statues

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today strongly condemned incidents of vandalism of statues in certain parts of the country and warned of stern action against those found guilty. The prime minister also spoke to Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the matter and expressed his strong disapproval of such incidents, according to an official statement.

The prime minister has strongly condemned the reported incidents of vandalism in certain parts of country and said stern action will be taken against those found guilty, the statement said. The Ministry of Home Affairs has said it has taken serious note of such incidents and directed state governments to take strong action. Persons indulging in such acts must be sternly dealt with and booked under relevant provisions of law, the ministry said.

In an advisory to all states and union territories, the Home Ministry said incidents of toppling of statues have been reported from certain parts of the country. “The MHA has asked the states that they must take all necessary measures to prevent such incidents,” it said.

Stern action

The ministry said the state governments were told that persons indulging in such acts must be strernly dealt with and booked under relevant provisions of law. “Honourable Prime Minister has also spoken to the Home Minister in this regard,” the advisory said. The advisory did not specifically mention Tripura but sporadic violence and clashes have been reported between rival political groups in the state after election results were declared on Saturday.

A statue of Lenin was brought down at Belonia town in South Tripura on Monday with the help of a bulldozer after the BJP’s victory in the Assembly elections in Tripura where a 25-year-long communist government was ousted. A statue of social reformer and founder of Dravidian movement E V Ramasamy ‘Periyar’ was also allegedly vandalised in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore district last night.

Yesterday, Home Minister Rajnath Singh called up Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy and DGP A K Shukla and asked them to ensure peace and check violence till a new government is installed in the state. Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba had also spoken to the DGP and asked them to take all possible steps to maintain law and order, check violence and restore peace and public order.

The ministry said enough central and state forces were available at the disposal of the state government to tackle the situation.

‘Extremely unfortunate’, says Amit Shah

BJP chief Amit Shah today termed the desecration of communist icon Lenin’s statues in Tripura and Periyar’s statue in Tamil Nadu “extremely unfortunate” and asserted that any party member found involved in destroying a statue will face severe action.

In a series of tweets, Shah distanced the BJP from the vandalism after a few party leaders appeared to be endorsing the attacks on the statues and said his organisation believes a wide range of ideas and ideologies can co-exist in India. “The recent issue on destroying of statues is extremely unfortunate. We as a party do not support the bringing down of anybody’s statue. I have spoken to the party units in both Tamil Nadu and Tripura. Any person associated with the BJP found to be involved with destroying any statue will face severe action from the party,” he said.

Shah’s warning to party workers came shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his strong disapproval over the vandalism. Shah said the BJP will always remain committed to ideals of openness and constructive politics, through which it can positively impact people’s lives as well as build a ‘New India’.

“As a party, we in the BJP believe that a wide range of ideas and ideologies can coexist in India. This is exactly how the makers of our Constitution envisioned our great nation to be. India’s diversity and the vibrant spirit of debate and discussion is what strengthens us,” he said.

Their main aim is to bring a transformative change in the lives of the people, he said, adding that they are humbled by the fact that their ethos and work have endeared them to people all across India and the BJP-led NDA is running government in over 20 states.

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.

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