A bust of Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee was vandalised early on 7 March in south Kolkata’s Kalighat, police said.
The statue was found partially damaged, with its face blackened. A poster was also recovered from the spot with the word “radicals” written on it, police added.
Seven people, six men and one woman, have been arrested in connection with the vandalism of the bust.
West Bengal Power Minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay alleged that the bust was vandalised by students of an ultra-left group from Jadavpur University (JU).
The students, who allegedly belong to the JU organisation ‘Radical’, were allegedly caught red-handed by police, who reached the spot and took them into custody.
BJP’s West Bengal unit also put out a statement condemning the act of vandalism.
BJP West Bengal condemns the barbaric act of vandalising statue of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh’s founder Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee at Keoratola Mohasoshan, Kolkata. We demand very strong action against the culprits.Sayantan Basu, General Secretary, BJP, West Bengal
This is the fourth such incident of vandalism since Sunday, 4 March. Two statues of communist leader Lenin were pulled down in Tripura, and a statue of Periyar Ramaswamy, founder of the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu, were vandalised by alleged right-wing groups.
Early on 7 March, Prime Minister Modi also expressed strong disapproval towards the incidents of vandalism.
“The Prime Minister also spoke to Home Minister in this regard, and has expressed his strong disapproval of such incidents,” Ministry of Home Affairs said.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has asked states to take all the necessary measures to prevent such incidents.
West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh on Tuesday, 7 March, said the demolition of communist icon Vladimir Lenin's statues in Tripura was "not right", but it was an outburst of people's anger against the Left's alleged misrule.
The Left and the CPI(M) should be prepared for the onslaught of the masses, as they have to pay for their "sins" of 25 years' rule in Tripura, he said.
"Demolition of statues is not the right thing. But you have to understand one thing that Lenin's statue was pulled down in Russia after the end of communist rule. This is nothing but an outburst of people's anger against the misrule of the Left," Ghosh told reporters on 6 March.
A day after Periyar’s statue was vandalised in Vellore, a BJP office in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore was also attacked by unidentified people with a petrol bomb, ANI reported.
Police forces have been deployed around Periyar’s statues in Coimbatore, after one of his statues was vandalised in Vellore district.
Video Editor: Mohd Irshad Alam
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(With inputs from PTI)
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