Politics Of Vandalism: Black Ink On Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s Plaque, Periyar Statue Destroyed

Two incidents of statue vandalism were reported on Tuesday

By: Ankita Bose |
March 20, 2018 7:05 pm

Bharatiya Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookherjee’s name engraved on a plaque at Kolkata’s Presidency College was defaced on Monday. As the politics of vandalism continues at full throttle, it seems the episodes have dragged in almost all sides of the political spectrum.

Black ink was smeared on the plaque, which was installed on the Hall of Fame board at Mookherjee’s alma mater. This incident came 12 days after an attack on a bust of the BJP ideologue placed at a park near the Keoratala crematorium in Kolkata. Similar to Monday’s incident, black ink was sprayed on the bust and it was damaged, a report in the Times of India said.

Tamil Nadu: Periyar statue vandalised by unidentified persons in Pudukkottai, case registered and investigation on. pic.twitter.com/tbeusZiOxn

— ANI (@ANI) March 20, 2018

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In another case of vandalism, 19th-century social activist Periyar’s statue was vandalised in Tamil Nadu’s Pudukkottai district by unidentified persons, The Indian Express reported on Tuesday

It all started with the change in Tripura’s government and the fall of a statue of Russian revolutionary communist leader Vladimir Lenin on March 6. While that incident became the most debated discussions on primetime television and social media, it also triggered a series of vandalism cases.

March 7: Two held in Vellore for vandalising a statue of Periyar, a social reformer who fought for Dalits.

March 7: Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s bust was sprayed with ink in Kolkata.

March 7: Ambedkar statue in Meerut damaged.

March 8: Mahatma Gandhi’s statue defaced in Kerala.

March 10: Ambedkar statue vandalised in Azamgarh.

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