Vandalism continues despite warnings, now Mahatma Gandhi’s statue damaged in Kerala:
A statue of Mahatma Gandhi was vandalised by miscreants in Kerala’s Kannur on Thursday despite a stern warning by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh (Rajnath Ram Badan Singh) against such acts.
According to reports, the hooligans, who are yet to be identified, broke the spectacles on Gandhi’s statue before getting away in Thaliperambu area of the city.
The incident came close on the heels of the razing of the statue of Lenin in Tripura and the desecration of a bust of Periyar in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore.
The bust of Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mukherjee was damaged by activists of Left-leaning outfit ‘Radical’ in south Kolkata on Wednesday. A statue of B R Ambedkar was damaged by unidentified people in Uttar Pradesh’s Mawana on Tuesday, triggering protests by Dalits.
Taking a serious view of the desecration of statues in various parts of the country, the Home Ministry on Wednesday issued a second advisory, its second in the day, holding district magistrates and superintendents of police “personally responsible” for such incidents of vandalism.
The fresh advisory came a few hours after the ministry, in its first advisory, told all states and union territories that incidents of toppling and damaging of statues must be checked immediately and stern action should be taken to prevent such incidents.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also expressed his strong disapproval of incidents of vandalism of statues and spoken to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the matter.
The home minister Rajnath Singh has appealed to political parties to ensure that those found desecrating statues are dealt with strictly.
ALSO READ : Nagpur Metro to initially run at only 25 kmph
