Damaging Babasaheb's Statues: Dharna, Chakkajam Mark Day-Long Protests Ambedkar Supporters Up In Arms

Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh): The incident of damaging the spectacles of Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar’s statue at Tower Chowk on Wednesday generated a lot of heat on Thursday. Angered over the incident, the supporters of Ambedkar not only staged demonstrations but also resorted to the chakkajam on the busy Freeganj railway over-bridge.

The Bhim Sena Army workers alleged that after the damage to Ambedkar’s statue, the decision to install a new statue was not taken. Even after 24 hours of the incident, the statue was not repaired. Due to this, the workers of the Bhim Army got angry and they blocked the Freeganj over-bridge. The workers associated with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Bhim Sena, AJJAKS, and other organisations joined them.

A large number of people were troubled due to which the police had to divert the traffic. Prakash Chauhan of the BSP said that after the memorandum on Wednesday, we had demanded in writing when the new statue would be installed, but the administration did not pay attention. A senior official has assured to install the new statue in two months, after which we have opened the blockade.

If the statue is not installed within the stipulated time, then the student organisation and the organisations of the society will take a decision together, he said. Meanwhile, one Ram Solanki of Dr Ambedkar Chhatra Sangathan lodged a complaint in the Madhav Nagar police station and sought registration of offence against the guilty person. AJJAKS' district president Dr RL Parmar said that the accused should be charged with NSA and treason.

With this demand, AJJAKS gave a memorandum to a local officer, addressed to the Governor and the Chief Minister. Parmar said that such incidents have occurred many times before but till now no strict action has been taken by the administration. Arrangements for CCTV cameras and security guards should be made soon around the statue of Baba Saheb. If the demand is not met, then a movement will be organised in the coming days, he warned.

Madhya Pradesh: Miscreant Breaks Specs Of BR Ambedkar Statue In Ujjain

New statue may take 45 days

The local administration felt itself in a comfortable position by Wednesday evening after repairing the spectacles of the statue and removing the kiosks etc from the Tower Chowk. They also covered the statue with a raincoat sheet. Even the Mayor had also assured to install CCTV cameras there. However, by late night, several supporters of Dr Ambedkar assembled there and started mounting pressure to install a new statue of Dr Ambedkar.

It is learnt that the present statue was installed some 40 years ago. It was about 9 ft high and was made up of bronze. Amid huge protests on Thursday, the concerned officials contacted more than 25 artists in the country to install Dr Ambedkar’s statue made up of bronze. Most of the artists expressed their inability to do the work in one month arguing that such type of statue will take at least three months. Finally, an artiste from Delhi agreed to prepare the statue in 45 days but the agitators demanded that the administration should give them in writing that the statue will be installed in 45 days.