BSP stages protest over Ambedkar statue vandalism

The Bahujan Samaj Party has accused the Punjab government and police of failing to prevent damage to statues of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar in the state. BSP workers gathered at Khuralgarh Sahib, under the leadership of state president Avtar Singh Karimpuri.

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After paying respects at the religious sites of Guru Ravidas ji, they reached Garhshankar and staged a sit-in protest outside the DSP office on Nangal Road, raising slogans against the government, administration and police. The protest ended after SDM Harbans Singh accepted a memorandum addressed to the Governor.

Karimpuri alleged that the BJP’s derogatory comments against Ambedkar had boosted miscreants, leading to the first statue damage in Amritsar. Despite prior police intelligence about threats to the Ambedkar statue in Noorpur Jattan, Garhshankar police failed to secure it, allowing miscreants to damage it. He further accused the police of attempting to hide the damage by repairing the statue secretly.

Karimpuri blamed the BJP and RSS for inciting Dalits in villages to burn effigies of those responsible for these incidents from abroad. He announced that BSP would launch the “Punjab Bachao Abhiyan” awareness campaign from June 25 to mobilise the community.