At a time when incidents of toppling of statues have come to light in some parts of the country, PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday expressed his strong disapproval on such issues and spoke to Home Minister Rajnath Singh in this regard, the Ministry of Home Affairs said.
In wake of recent incidents of violence, the Ministry of Home Affairs said it has taken serious note of such incidents of vandalism and has directed state governments to take strong action. "Incidents of toppling of statues have been reported from certain parts of the country. MHA has taken serious notes of such incidents of vandalism. PM also spoke to Home Minister in this regard and has expressed his strong disapproval of such incidents," the Home Ministry said in an advisory to all states and Union territories.
The ministry said the state governments were told that persons indulging in such acts must be sternly dealt with and booked under relevant provisions of law. "Honorable prime minister has also spoken to the Home Minister in this regard," the advisory said.
The advisory did not specifically mention Tripura but sporadic violence and clashes have been reported between rival political groups in the state after election results were declared on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mukherjee's statue was vandalised in Kolkata.
On Monday, a statue of Lenin was brought down at Belonia town in South Tripura with the help of a bulldozer after the BJP's victory in the Assembly elections in Tripura where a 25-year-long communist government was ousted.
A similar incident was also reported from Tamil Nadu, where a statue of social reformer and founder of Dravidian movement EV Ramasamy "Periyar" was allegedly vandalised in Vellore district.
WATCH | PM Modi strongly disapproves incidents of vandalism in Tripura, Tamil Nadu
