Statue vs statue: Sardar Patel vs Ambedkar leaves Ujjain on edge

For over a decade, the two communities have been divided over installing Dr BR Ambedkar or Patel’s statue. However, the local nagar panchayat did not take any action over the installation of Patel’s statue.

According to police, the two groups pelted stones at each other in which two policemen and two other people sustained injuries. The statue was broken with a tractor and an unruly mob set it on fire, the police said, adding that saffron flags were also set ablaze.

Videos of the incident surfaced on social media. Additional SP (Ujjain Rural) Nitesh Bhargava told The Indian Express, “We have lodged three FIRs. The first FIR was lodged by the police under sections of rioting. The FIR lodged on behalf of the SC community has sections pertaining to the SC/ST Atrocities Act. The FIR lodged on behalf of the Patidar community has sections related to promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and Injuring or defiling place of worship, with intent to insult the religion of any class. We are questioning over a dozen people. No one has been arrested. There is peace in the area so far.”

The local police station in-charge was suspended for being unable to control the situation. On Thursday evening, the town wore a desolate look with heavy police deployment in riot gear. Police personnel also held flag marches and area domination exercises to maintain peace. At the local police station, members of both communities waited to file their complaints.

Ashok Gami, a senior Patidar leader, said his community had permission to install Patel’s statue at the main square of the tehsil. “We had informed the police about this (installing the statue). It was installed around 4 am to avoid inconveniencing the public. We were not doing anything illegal.”

Pankaj Bohra, another Patidar community leader, said, “Around 30 of us were there and after the statue was installed, members of the SC community protested against us. They pelted stones at us. We have been trying to install the statue since 2017 but due to communal tension, it could not be done.”

Sevaram Malviya, a local SC leader who is also the president of the local SC/ST Adhikari Karamchari Sangh, said, “This has been a decade-long fight to install the statue. We have no issue with Vallabhbhai Patel, we accept him as our national hero. But they don’t have the permission. The local BJP leaders in their election manifesto for the local panchayat elections promised Patel’s statue. I sent a complaint a day before that they would do this. The police failed to maintain law and order. Most of those who protested were local Bhim army members and they were all rounded up by the police.”

Narendra Malviya, whose brother was detained by the police, said, “Since the local panchayat body was established, there has been tensions over his issue. But apart from the statue, the daily discrimination we faced at the hands of the Patidar community has kept the tensions simmering.”

BJP leader Gokul Malviya said his party had promised a Patel statue but the permissions had not yet been granted. “We had tried to pass a resolution at the nagar panchayat twice and failed. People have also suggested Mahatma Gandhi, Maharana Pratap and Parashuram statues as an alternative but the people are divided between Patel and Ambedkar. What happened was wrong,” Malviya said.

Tarana Congress MLA Mahesh Parmar spent several hours in the day talking to members of both communities. “Patel united the country and Ambedkar wrote the Constitution. They both are my national heroes. The two communities were divided between Ambedkar and Patel, which is wrong. If the BJP promised a Patel statue why was the permission not granted? Why was the statue installed at night? They are both my family and we can’t be divided.”