Statue vandalisation row: BR Ambedkar bust defaced in Chennai, Mahatma Gandhi's statue damaged in Kerala

The statue vandalisation spree continued across the country on Thursday, with unknown miscreants defacing BR Ambedkar’s bust in Chennai, media reports said.

According to a report on NDTV, miscreants poured paint on Ambedkar’s bust in Tiruvottiyur area of Chennai on Wednesday night.

In a similar incident, a statue of Mahatma Gandhi was also damaged in Thaliparamba area of Kannur district in Kerala, ANI reported.

Kerala: A statue of Mahatma Gandhi was damaged by unknown persons in Thaliparamba area of Kannur. The spectacle of the statue was damaged. pic.twitter.com/D8Vtd24VDE

— ANI (@ANI) March 8, 2018

The suspect pulled down the spectacles off the statue and fled the spot when people caught him in the act, said News18.

#BREAKING Miscreant tried to damage Gandhi statue in Kannur, Kerala. Gandhi's spectacle on the statue was damaged. An unidentified person pulled down the spectacle & garland & fled the spot when people caught him in the act. Police on lookout for person who wore a Saffron lungi pic.twitter.com/JXvwWfuVOJ

— News18 (@CNNnews18) March 8, 2018

Amid an ongoing spate of incidents targeting statues and busts of known figures across the country, Ambedkar’s statue was also vandalised but later replaced in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday.

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Following the Meerut incident, members of the Dalit community blocked the Meerut-Mawana road even as the administration sought to calm down the protesters and assured them that the statue would be replaced. The officials later said that a new Ambedkar statue had been installed.

According to the police, the statue was installed by the Dalit community in Chhota Mawana several years ago. The Meerut incident came two days after a bust of Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee was vandalised in Kolkata, and a statue of Soviet icon Vladimir Illyich Lenin was razed in Tripura.

A bust of Dravidian movement founder EV Ramasamy Periyar was also desecrated in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore, triggering widespread protests across the state.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemned the incidents of vandalism of statues and said that stern action would be taken against those found guilty.

With inputs from PTI