Yogi orders FIR after Kakori martyrs’ statues razed in Shahjahanpur

Meerut: Two days after statues of the martyrs of the 1925 'Kakori conspiracy' -- Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan and Thakur Roshan Singh -- were bulldozed during a road construction and beautification drive in UP's Shahjahanpur, an FIR was filed against the contractor on Tuesday night and two govt officials were suspended on Wednesday after chief minister Yogi Adityanath ordered strict action against the culprits. The CM also directed that the statues be reinstalled with due respect.The contractor is accused of "irresponsibly" razing and dumping the damaged statues at a garbage site on Sunday night. The FIR against the contractor, Fly Infratech, was registered under BNS sections 196 (promoting enmity, hatred, or disaffection between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language or caste) and 352 (breach of peace).Municipal commissioner Bipin Kumar Misra told TOI, "An FIR has been filed against the contractor and it has been blacklisted. Junior engineer Pramod Kumar and assistant engineer Vinod Kumar have been suspended for dereliction of duty. A new structure is being developed at the site, with bases prepared for reinstalling the statues."These three revolutionaries were the key figures in the Kakori conspiracy and were executed in 1927 by the British Raj. The site of the statues has long been a symbolic stop for political leaders, who traditionally pay floral tributes before beginning any official engagements.On Wednesday, Ashfaqullah Khan's grandson, who shares the same name as his martyred grandfather, on Wednesday criticised the administration's "insensitive" act, terming it "unfortunate." He told TOI, "The way the statues were bulldozed in the middle of the night and thrown at a garbage dump speaks volumes about the administration. I refuse to believe that the municipal officials were unaware of this mindless act. Now, after the backlash, they are in damage-control mode. They will hurriedly make some mud figures and install these without realising the fact that the facial features of these figures should be made after consultation with the families."SP chief Akhilesh Yadav condemned the incident and stated that beautification can never take precedence over respect for martyrs, terming it reflective of a "disturbing mindset."The Kakori conspiracy refers to the Aug 9, 1925, train robbery near Lucknow, carried out by members of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA), including Bismil and Ashfaqullah Khan, to seize govt funds as a protest against British colonial policies.