Miscreants vandalised a bust of Bharatiya Jan Sangh founder and BJP icon Syama Prasad Mookerjee in Assam’s Kokrajhar town on Tuesday.
This is the first such instance in Assam, after a statue of Vladimir Lenin was toppled in Tripura’s Belonia town two days after the BJP swept the Left Front out of power on March 3. A statue of Syama Prasad Mookerjee was targeted allegedly by Left-wing activists in Kolkata on March 7.
Residents of the town’s Rabindranagar locality noticed the damaged bust in the morning and informed the police. “We did not receive any complaint but we have decided to register a case on our own,” Rajen Singh, Superintendent of Police of Kokrajhar district, said.
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“Our force has the situation under control there. They are trying to find the culprits,” Kuladhar Saikia, Special Director-General of Police (law and order), told
Appeal for peace
Rajib Kumar Brahma and Doneswar Goyari, executive members of the BTC, visited the spot during the day and assured the locals that action would be taken against those trying to “foment trouble in the council areas”.
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Former MP Urkhao Gwra Brahma condemned the incident on behalf of the regional United People’s Party Liberal. “This is an attempt to create communal turmoil. We demand strong action and appeal for peace and harmony in the area,” he said.
Mookerjee’s bust in Kokrajhar was inaugurated in 2002 by BJP leader and former Bihar Minister Kailashpati Mishra.