A studied silence over vandalism

The statue of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar adjacent to Golden Temple after a vandalisation attempt by a man, in Amritsar, on January 27, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI

On Republic Day, a man attempted to vandalise a life-sized statue of B.R. Ambedkar, adjacent to the Golden Temple, in Amritsar, Punjab. When images were circulated showing him climbing atop the statue with a hammer, there was widespread condemnation. The Punjab police invoked sedition charges against the accused under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Meanwhile, in Uttar Pradesh, where roughly 21% of the population is Dalit, at least 13 Ambedkar statues have been vandalised in the last four and a half months. These incidents have not drawn any public attention.

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The first case was reported on October 3, 2024, in Sultanpur district’s Belsada village under the Kotwali Dehat police station. Locals, mostly Dalits, organised a protest demanding action against the culprits. The administration repaired the statue and the police launched a probe to identify the miscreants. However, a second incident occurred just the next day in Ballia district under the Phephana police station limits, and the third took place on October 5 in Lucknow, under the Kakori police station limits. More than a month later, on November 16, the fourth reported incident took place in Gonda district’s Samarupur village. A few days later, on November 22, there was another reported case of vandalism in Jasapur village, under the Rasulabad police station limits in Kanpur. Instances where also reported in November and December from Ballia, an upper caste-dominated district. The next few incidents took place in January and February this year in the Varanasi, Mirzapur, Aligarh, Barabanki, and Baghpat districts. In the latest case dated February 15 in Baghpat, when responding to protests, the administration promised to reinstall the statue.

All these incidents came to light in the morning, which means they took place during the night. The police have registered complaints under sections of the law dealing with damage to public property against unknown persons, who remain at large. In some cases, the damaged statues have been repaired by the public, who raised funds. To pacify the complainants, the administration has also promised to install cameras in parks and other public spaces to deter vandalism.

Also Read | Dalit groups slam Ambedkar statue vandalism; Opposition calls it a ‘design’ of feudal elements emboldened the BJP

While these episodes point to the failure of law-enforcement agencies in preventing the vandalism of a statue of a Dalit icon, they equally point to a weakness in the political and social mobilisation of Dalits. This was not the case in U.P. during the 1990s and 2000s when the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was a prominent player in the State’s electoral landscape. The BSP would raise Dalit issues, create awareness about their rights, and organise demonstrations over the community’s concerns. The party installed hundreds of Ambedkar statues in public spaces as a marker of the community’s identity. The Bahujan movement flourished, with the BSP forming the government four times in U.P. However, in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the BSP secured only 9.39% of the vote share — its lowest in almost three decades. Its electoral fortunes have changed for the worse over the last 10 years. The party lacks both ambition and organisational heft to make a difference.

Dalit activists have blamed feudal elements for the vandalism. They believe that “anti-social elements” are trying to demoralise the community by attacking their most important icon. Even as Dalit social mobilisation on the ground remains weak, there have been voices on social media condemning these incidents. Many people have pointed out that Ambedkar is not just a Dalit icon, but also the architect of India’s Constitution and so an attack against him is an attack against the Constitution and the values it upholds.

Following the incident in Amritsar, Ms. Mayawati called the incident “shameful” and demanded immediate and stringent legal action against such “anti-social elements”. She also accused the State’s Aam Aadmi Party government of negligence. However, in U.P., where there have been at least 13 similar incidents, the BSP chief has not said a word.

When asked about the vandalism, the Opposition parties, particularly the Congress, claimed that these acts were a fallout of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) “politics of hate”, which has emboldened feudal elements. But why U.P.’s most vocal Dalit voice for decades chooses to maintain a studied silence over these acts is both disappointing and curious.