Popular Front strongly condemns the damaging of Ambedkar statues

Popular Front of India's State General Secretary Mr.D.S Habibullah strongly condemned the act of defacing, desecrating and damaging  of the statues of Baba Saheb Ambedkar in Amalapuram town of East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh. He demanded the State Government that the culprits be arrested soon and strictly punished. He pointed out that   Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar is not the representative of only the Dalit community and  called upon all the community people to respect the person who had drafted the nation's constitution.

Tension prevailed in Amalapuram town and surrounding areas on January 23, following the desecration of Ambedkar's statues by unidentified persons. Clashing groups pelted stones at each other when a large number of Dalit youths tried to close shops run by Kapu community leading to a war-like situation in the town. Police intervened, clamped section 144 and rushed additional forces to bring the situation under control.

Trouble began when, in the morning, locals found Ambedkar statues at different areas in the town  defaced and desecrated. All statues of Ambedekar within 2 km radius of the town had either been defaced, damaged or thrown to the ground. The statue at Bandaveedhi area  was found in a drain but the one at Rallapalem went missing altogether.

The news spread like wildfire and, soon, leaders and activists of various Dalit organizations had assembled in large numbers to stage a roadblock, leaving scores of vehicles stranded on either side of the main road for over two hours.

They tried to enforce a bandh by forcibly shutting down shops, but were opposed by the Kapus who appealed for calm. A few Dalit youths, however, hurled lathis at the shops which incensed the shopkeepers who then replied by hurling stones. It was a free for all soon as both groups rained stones at each other. This went on for close to an hour as cops stood aside as mute spectators.

A large number of shops belong to the Kapu community; they could not digest the fact that their shops were targeted, A Sekhar of Nalla Vantena area, said. With the situation spiraling out of control, additional forces had to be brought in from nearby areas and from Kakinada. Sniffer dogs, too, were pressed into service. District SP Trivikram Varma said stern action would be taken against the culprits following an inquiry into the matter. It was learnt that additional DG Krishna Raju has been appointed to head the investigation into the desecration of the statues.

The development came 24 hours after Amalapuram Member of Parliament Harsha Kumar's broadside against Ghulam Nabi Azad for not recognizing the services of the Dalit community who, he said, form a major vote bank for the Congress.