Village in Uttar Pradesh tense after violence over removal of Ambedkar, Buddha statues-OxBig News Network

Vibharapur village in Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh remained tense on Sunday after villagers, mostly Dalits, clashed with police over the removal of statues of B. R. Ambedkar and Lord Buddha from government land a day earlier on April 5.

Police arrested eight people over the incident and at least seven police personnel were injured as locals pelted stones. Additional police have been deployed in the area to prevent any untoward incident.

“The statues were installed by villagers on a platform in front of the Panchayat Bhawan in March — on government land. After receiving multiple complaints, the local administration served a notice for removal of the statues within three days. But 22 days later, locals had not removed the statues. Following orders from the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) and Circle Officer, police and revenue officials removed the statues. As the law enforcement officials were about to leave a group of villagers instigated women to pelt stones at them, injuring eight police personnel and damaging the circle officer’s vehicle,” Praveen Ranjan Singh, Additional Superintendent of Police, told The Hindu.

He added, Eight people have been arrested in connection with the incident, and a case has been registered against those involved.

In recent months, dozens of clashes linked to Ambedkar statues have been reported from across U.P. Violence has started over either vandalism or removal by authorities and has led to tension with local Dalits confronting the administration for alleged high-handedness or inaction over vandalism in multiple districts.