The controversy surrounding the shifting of the Ambedkar statue, located in front of Vidhana Soudha, took a new turn on Friday.
Dalit outfits were incensed after they found the Ambedkar statue secured with a safety harness.
The controversy surrounding the shifting of the Ambedkar statue, located in front of Vidhana Soudha, took a new turn on Friday.
Dalit outfits were incensed after they found the Ambedkar statue secured with a safety harness.
The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), in order to protect the statue from the adverse impact of the Metro works, had secured the statue with a harness.
Leaders of Dalit outfits, who staged a protest, have demanded the state government to sack BMRCL chief N Sivasailam or face a state-wide agitation for insulting the father of the Constitution.
Protesters, who held talks with state chief secretary SV Ranganath, later said that they had agreed for a truce after Ranganath apologised for not informing Dalit organisations in advance about the development.
N Murthy, president of DSS, maintained that the government had taken a day's time to take a decision on their demand.
"Sivasailam is issuing provocative statements on money being wasted by the government for not shifting Ambedkar's statue. Further, he makes baseless statements that lakhs of rupees being wasted over the delay in shifting of the statue. If he does not stop issuing such statements, we will not be responsible for the law and order situation that might arise in the state," Murthy warned.
Protesters made it clear that they would not allow shifting of the statue and cited examples of many projects having been implemented without affecting religious places that come in the way of development projects.
The Dalit community has some kind of sacred feeling towards Ambedkar’s statue, they said.
They argued that there was nothing wrong even if the government incurred some expenditure to retain the statue in the same location. At the same time, they maintained that Dalits are not opposed to development projects.
“The government had submitted an affidavit with the high court stating that the Ambedkar statue will not be shifted from the present location and it won’t prove to be an obstruction for the Metro work. After this, how can Metro chief Sivasailam issue statements that the shifting of statue results in heavy losses?” they questioned.
Earlier, there was high drama at the gates of Vidhana Soudha, as Dalit organisations who feared that the Ambedkar statue was being removed started gathering. The BMRCL had secured the statue of BR Ambedkar wit belts to provide additional support to the statue.
Members of various Dalit organisations arrived at the scene and protested against the BMRCL for attempting to shift the statue without informing them.
“How can the government attempt to touch the statue when the matter is pending before the high court?” asked N Murthy.
BMRCL’s attempts to cover the statue and provide additional support comes in the wake of a recent statement by MD, N Sivasailam, who had claimed that the statue had sunk close to 2cms.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}