Telangana(India): Finally, The statue of BR Ambedkar has been erected in front of Anjaneya temple( Hanuman Mandir) by the Ambedkarite group of the Nallamadugu Village.
The erection of the statue was strongly protested by the backward Hindu community of the village. Due to which the Ambedkarite activists had put two cases of the SC-ST Act on 29 people.
It was also brought to the notice of NHRC by the Ambedkarites lawyers. The controversy arose when the people of the village wanted to erect an Ambedkar statue in front of the Hanuman Temple. Disagreeing with the decision of the Gram Panchyat, the villagers protested and urged to change the place of the statue. However, Ambedkarite groups were ardent to build the statue in front of a Hindu temple.
A local villager told Neo Politico that they have erected the statue of an Anti Hindu man just to show how powerful they are. When our community protested they put a false case of the SC-ST Act on our 29 people.
Also, Ambedkarite groups had written to the National Human Rights Commission to arrest the protestors from the backward community.
The unanimous decision was taken by the Gram panchayat on 23 December 2019 but was rejected by the Hindu community. The people of the village urged the Ambedkarite groups to change the place of the statue but they threatened to book the backward community under the SC-ST Act.
“After too many threats and two FIRs of the SC-ST Act our people are feeling helpless. They built the statue in front of our temple. All due to the SC-ST Act”, a villager told Neo Politico.