India: BJP and the RSS "signalled their cadres" to destroy statues of those who oppose their Hindutva ideology

The Times of India

'RSS signalled cadres to tear down Periyar statue', says Rahul Gandhi

TIMESOFINDIA.COM | Updated: Mar 20, 2018, 14:31 IST

Highlights

A Periyar statue was found vandalised this morning in the Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu
Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleged that the BJP and the RSS "signalled their cadres" to destroy statues of those who oppose their Hindutva ideology


NEW DELHI: A day after a Periyar statue was vandalised in Tamil Nadu, Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleged that the BJP and the RSS "signalled their cadres" to destroy statues of those who oppose their Hindutva ideology.

"When the RSS and BJP encouraged the tearing down of Lenin statues in Tripura, they signalled their cadres to destroy statues of those who opposed their ideology, like Periyar, the great social reformer who fought for the Dalits. His statue too was destroyed today in Tamil Nadu," said Rahul in a tweet today.

The Lenin statue Rahul was referring to was one in Tripura that was razed earlier this month, two days after the results of the Assembly elections there showed that the BJP had toppled the CPM.

A statue of social reformer Periyar was found with its head cut off near Alangudi in the Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu on Tuesday morning. The head was found lying near the statue. Police said some miscreants damaged the statue on Monday night. Over 200 police personnel were deployed in the area to avoid any violence.

The razing of Communist hero Lenin's statue in Tripura last month - an act condoned by some BJP leaders - appears to have sparked a wave of similar actions across the country in its immediate aftermath.

In Vellore, a BJP town secretary and some of his relatives stoned a statue Periyar on March 7, after senior party leader H Raja tweeted advocating the destruction of his statues. A second statue of Lenin's was targeted around the same time, again in Tripura, by persons unknown. In West Bengal, a BJP icon was the target, as seven people vandalised a bust of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, founder of the Jan Sangh, a party from which the BJP emerged.

In Vellore, a BJP town secretary and some of his relatives stoned a statue Periyar on March 7, after senior party leader H Raja tweeted advocating the destruction of his statues. A second statue of Lenin's was targeted around the same time, again in Tripura, by persons unknown. In West Bengal, a BJP icon was the target, as seven people vandalised a bust of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, founder of the Jan Sangh, a party from which the BJP emerged.