Hasnapur village and adjoining area in Unnao district and village of Chandpur in Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh remained on edge on Wednesday (August 12, 2026) over two separate incidents of Dr B. R. Ambedkar’s statues being vandalised by miscreants, forcing villagers, mostly Dalits, to hold sit-in protest at the site demanding action against the culprits.

In both incidents the administration pacified villagers and installed a new statue. “The statue of Baba Saheb Ambedkar Ji has been vandalised by miscreants in village Hasnapur of Soharamau police station. The Sohramau police force is present at the scene. A new statue has been installed. There are no law-and-order issues. Based on the complaint received, a case has been registered under relevant sections and necessary legal action is being taken,” reads a statement from Unnao police. 

In Etawah’s Chandpur village too a new statue was installed. “Upon receiving information about the damage to the statue of Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar in the village of Chandpur, under the jurisdiction of the Ekdil police station, SDM Sadar, CO Nagar, and Ekdil police immediately arrived at the scene and reinstalled a new statue. The situation is currently normal and peaceful,” said the local police.

Congress described both the incidents as an organised design to humiliate the Dalit community. “It is an organised pattern to humiliate the Dalit community. After the BJP came to power in U.P. feudal elements get emboldened; such incidents are happening in U.P. also because in the state Dalit are believed to be more informative towards their rights, hence by vandalising Ambedkar’s statue, a signal is sent about them being a second-class citizen by feudal forces. Attack on Ambedkar statue is an attack on Dalit self-respect movement. The attack on statue is not limited to Ambedkar but also happening with other icons of marginalized sections,” said Ajay Kumar Lallu, a senior U.P. Congress leader.

Published – August 13, 2026 05:00 am IST