Gandhi among those disfigured in India’s statue wars

INDIA: The statues of Indian political figures have been vandalised in a series of tit-for-tat attacks by supporters of rival parties. Even Mahatma Gandhi has not been spared as hardliners on both sides of the political divide stoke the conflict.

A statue of the ‘‘father of the nation’’ was disfigured in the southern state of Kerala yesterday by youths who threw stones, tore a garland from around its neck and broke its glasses.

The attacks began earlier this week when activists from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tore down a statue of Lenin in the northeastern state of Tripura and played football with its head during celebrations for the party’s win in state elections. The result brought to an end 25 years of communist rule in the state and extended the BJP’s reach into the remote northeast, where it had previously struggled to gain ground.

Opponents to the BJP then attacked other statues, including the Hindu nationalist Syama Prasad Mukherjee, and BR Ambedkar, a figurehead to India’s Dalits, the lowest rank on the caste ladder and formerly known as ‘‘untouchables’’.

Reports of further incidents continue to emerge from across the country as local communal or political tensions lead to outbreaks of petty violence. The attack on Gandhi’s statue has galvanised politicians on both sides to condemn the vandalism.

Narendra Modi, the prime minister, who has previously been criticised for being too slow to denounce communal violence, has demanded a halt to the attacks.

Amit Shah, president of Modi’s BJP and the prime minister’s right-hand man, was reported to have demanded that local party leaders rein in hardline activists. ‘‘The recent issue of destroying statues is extremely unfortunate. We [the BJP] do not support bringing down anyone’s statue.’’

Opposition parties have accused local BJP zealots of fomenting the ‘‘statue wars’’, however. Propelled by Modi’s vast popularity and its electoral strategy on the ground, the BJP now controls 21 of 29 Indian states, from only seven when the party swept to power in 2014.