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News Topical, Digital Desk : Statues of the martyrs of the Kakori Train Action were allegedly demolished with a bulldozer during road construction work in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The incident has sparked a political controversy. A case was filed against the construction agency on Tuesday.
Opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party, strongly condemned the incident, while various organizations protested. On the Chief Minister's orders, an FIR was immediately filed against the company responsible for desecrating the martyrs' statues. The Chief Minister ordered the immediate suspension of the officials responsible for the incident.
Uproar over demolition of statues of martyrs
On the Chief Minister's orders, the company has been blacklisted with immediate effect and its work has been withdrawn. Statues of freedom fighters Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, and Thakur Roshan Singh were installed on the roadside outside the municipal corporation office, which were regularly garlanded by public representatives.
It is alleged that they were demolished on Sunday night. Superintendent of Police Rajesh Dwivedi said that, based on a complaint from the Municipal Corporation's chief engineer, a case has been registered against the executing agency under sections 196-2 (provocation with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 352 (intentional insult) of the Indian Penal Code.
He said that the concerned martyr memorial was being beautified and the company was asked to shift the statues to the platform under construction, but it demolished the statues of the martyrs on Sunday night without informing the concerned department.
The company was blacklisted on the orders of CM Yogi.
A video has surfaced on social media showing statues being vandalized and their debris allegedly being disposed of at a garbage dump. The video has sparked strong reactions. According to sources, this action was carried out by a contractor involved in road construction and beautification work.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed his strong displeasure over the desecration of the martyrs' statues and has ordered strict action against the culprits and the statues' proper restoration. Following CM Yogi's orders, an immediate case has been filed against the company responsible for vandalizing the martyrs' statues during the road widening project.
According to the statement, the Chief Minister ordered the immediate suspension of the officials responsible for the work. Following this, the company was immediately blacklisted and work withdrawn.
SP-Congress targeted
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav criticized the incident, saying that beautification can never trump respect for the martyrs. He shared a news story on the social media platform X, condemning the incident and calling it a reflection of a "disturbing mindset."
Uttar Pradesh Congress President Ajay Rai also strongly condemned the incident and demanded strict action against those responsible. He said on X that if justice is not served, Congress workers will take to the streets in protest.
Rai alleged that "the BJP government's municipal corporation bulldozed the statues of great martyrs like Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, and Thakur Roshan Singh. This is a direct attack on the sentiments of the heroes who sacrificed their lives for the country's independence and on the sentiments of 1.45 billion Indians. The Yogi government should immediately take strict action against the officials responsible."
Ashfaqulla Khan's family protested
Meanwhile, a descendant of Ashfaqulla Khan has also condemned the incident and announced a protest against it. After videos of the martyr's statues being demolished by bulldozers and dumped in the garbage went viral, various organizations protested and burned effigies of municipal officials.
Congress District President Rajneesh Gupta, along with hundreds of workers, reached the Collectorate on Tuesday and staged a protest. He said that the municipal administration had disrespectfully demolished the statues of the country's immortal martyrs with bulldozers and thrown them into the garbage dump. "We want the administration to hand over the remains of Ashfaqulla Khan's statue to the Congress party so they can bury them with respect, and they can immerse the remains of martyrs Roshan Singh and Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil in the Ganges River," he said.
Hindu organizations also demonstrated
Hindu organization leader Rajesh Awasthi led hundreds of supporters in a protest and burned effigies of municipal officials. He said the administration's actions against those who sacrificed their lives for the country were condemnable. Awasthi warned that if strict action was not taken against the accused by evening, he would launch an even larger protest.
Freedom fighters Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, and Roshan Singh were hanged by the British on December 19, 1927. The three freedom fighters were convicted by the then British government of looting government treasury from a train at Kakori, near Lucknow, in August 1925.
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