Statue vandalism: MHA asks states to arrest, punish culprits

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday issued stern advisories to states to promptly investigate the incidents of vandalism of statues and arrest and prosecute the culprits.

The MHA issued two advisories back-to-back after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Home Minister Rajnath Singh and directed him to take measures to "contain the vandalism and sternly deal with the culprits".

The razing of Communist hero Lenin's statue in Tripura on Monday - an act condoned by some BJP leaders - appears to have sparked a wave of similar actions across the country by BJP workers. But backlash has been swift and retaliatory vandalism by Opposition supporters has also begun. Statues of BJP icon Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in West Bengal, anti-caste icon 'Periyar' Ramaswamy in Vellore, Tamil Nadu and Dalit icon B R Ambedkar in Meerut have been desecrated.      

The advisories  called for "close and continuous monitoring" of the situation. The second advisory asked the states to take all possible measures to ensure that no such incident recurs.

DCs, SPs alerted

It also asked the states to "make District Magistrates   and Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) personally responsible for ensuring that the law and order situation remains firmly under control" in their jurisdiction.

"Intensification of patrolling in sensitive locations, community policing for peace and harmony, check on anti-social elements and preventive measures wherever required are the main elements of the advisory," an official statement on the second advisory issued in the afternoon said.

The first advisory came in the morning soon after Modi's call to Singh, in which states were asked to take all necessary measures to prevent such incidents. Persons indulging in such acts must be sternly dealt with and booked under relevant provisions of law, another official statement said.