Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday, 8 March, issued a directive asking state government officials to ensure that statues of eminent personalities are not vandalised.
The Union Home Ministry has already asked states to prevent such incidents and take action against vandalism, which has been reported from many parts of the country.
Adityanath has told all District Magistrates and Senior Superintendents of Police in Uttar Pradesh that the government’s top priority is to ensure peace and safety in the state.
He said that his government will take strict action against those who try to disrupt peace and that no one will be allowed to take law and order into their hands.
The CM has directed the officials to remain on alert regarding the safety of the statues in their respective districts.
A number of statues have been vandalised or desecrated ever since a mob toppled the statue of Communist hero Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin.
In Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut, a bust of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar was damaged by unidentified miscreants on Tuesday.
Yogi Adityanath had expressed his strong displeasure over the incident and instructed officials to take immediate action against the culprits.
On Wednesday night, an Ambedkar statue was smeared with paint in Tamil Nadu while a bust of Mahatma Gandhi was damaged in Kannur, Kerala on Thursday morning.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Wednesday expressed his displeasure over the vandalisation of statues.