Caste clashes have erupted in several parts of Uttar Pradesh over the installation of B.R. Ambedkar’s statues on the occasion of his 134th birth anniversary for which the Yogi Adityanath government has organised 15-day celebrations across the state.
A large police contingent has been deployed at Shivpuri village in Lucknow’s Mahigawan to avert a law-and-order crisis after a platform built to install a statue of Ambedkar was found broken on Monday morning.
“We came to know about the tension brewing in the village on Sunday evening and had sent some cops there. But the situation got worse on Monday and we decided to seize the statue. More cops had to be deployed in the village and the situation is normal now,” a police source in Mahigawan told this correspondent.
At Jarbo village in Jhansi district, 420km southeast of Lucknow, some villagers pooled in money and bought a statue of Ambedkar on April 10. They had constructed a platform in a park and planned to install the statue on Monday. Matters came to a head when some upper caste villagers allegedly clashed with the followers of Ambedkar on Sunday for “encroaching” on government land and called up the police.
Ajay Shrotriya, a police officer in Jhansi, said they bulldozed the cemented platform and deployed cops in the village. “We have also booked 30 villagers for breach of peace,” he added.
Santoshi Devi, a resident of Jarbo village, claimed a few upper-caste men had told them to “throw away” the statue. “They used foul words for us (Dalits) when we refused to do so. Later, the police came and attacked us all of a sudden. They flattened the area where we had built a platform and took away the statue.”
Some Dalit residents of Lucknow’s Matai Khantari, who wanted to install a bust of Ambedkar in front of a primary school in the village, have accused the police of manhandling them on the complaint of some upper caste residents of the area. Matai Khantari is 4km from Shivpuri.
“The police arrested our community members and brutally lathi-charged us on Saturday after a few unidentified men pelted the cops with stones,” said Ashish Kumar, a Dalit youth of the village.
“The police removed the bust from where it was kept near the school,” Ashish said, claiming that the upper caste men had attacked the cops and pinned the blame on Dalits.
“Several women suffered injuries during the baton charge. They were treated at a local community health centre,” he added.
Satish Chandra Tripathi, sub-divisional magistrate of Bakshi Ka Talab under which the Matai Khantari village falls, said: “The statue was installed on government land without permission from the authorities. A police contingent has been deployed in the village to maintain peace.”
Virendra Rawat, the panchayat chief of Matai Khantari, said: “We have been trying for several years to get permission from the authorities to put up the bust of Ambedkar at a place that was earmarked for it many years ago. The government is celebrating Ambedkar’s birth anniversary but it doesn’t allow us to install his statue. What kind of respect is this?”
Rawat said the Dalit villagers had secured the bust kept near the school with tree protectors and formed several teams to guard the place.
“The police want to take away the statue and are mounting pressure on us,” Rawat added.
The Dalit villagers of Matai Khantari refused to meet Yogesh Shukla, the BJP MLA of Bakshi Ka Talab, on Saturday evening. They chanted slogans against the BJP government, prompting the police to escort Shukla away.
Adityanath has directed officials to organise cultural and educational programmes and meetings on the Dalit icon and architect of the Constitution on Sunday and Monday in their respective districts. This is the first time the Uttar Pradesh government is celebrating Ambedkar’s birth anniversary so extensively.