Uttar Pradesh: District administration stalls unveiling of Phoolan Devi’s statue in Unnao

KANPUR: The Unnao district administration stalled unveiling of the statue of bandit queen Phoolan Devi in Badli Purwa village by Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) in Unnao on Saturday to mark her death anniversary.
Amid heavy deployment of police force, the district administration and police officials seized Phoolan’s statue, who is now a rallying point of Nishad outfits in the run-up to the UP Assembly polls.
The event was part of a programme organized by the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), which had recently announced to install statues Phoolan’s statues in 18 districts (with sizeable population of Nishad community) across the state and observe her death anniversary on July 25.
A programme to install and unveil a 20-ft tall statue of Phoolan Devi on the occasion of her 20th death anniversary (July 25) was proposed at the premises of a private school in Badli Purwa village of Bangarmau Kotwali police area.
The event was to be attended by leaders of Vikassheel Insaan Party, who had to install and unveil the statue.
As soon as the information spread, the district administration on late Saturday night swung into action and stopped the arrangements with regard to the unveiling of Phoolan’s statue slated for Sunday and deployed a heavy police force.
Circle Officer (CO) Bangarmu, Ashutosh Kumar said that they had received information that the statue was to be unveiled at a private school in Badli Purwa village of the district. The police rushed to the spot and questioned the organizers in this regard.
“The organizers had not taken permission from the district administration for organizing the function in the prevailing corona pandemic. We later took the statue into our custody and shifted it to Bangarmau police station. Further investigations are underway in this regard,” said CO further said.
Sources informed that some villagers tried to protest causing tense moments but the police pacified them.
Phoolan Devi, who belonged to the Nishad community, was elected MP on the Samajwadi Party ticket from Mirzapur. She was assassinated on July 25, 2001 outside her residence in Delhi.
The Vikassheel Insaan Party, which is a partner in the ruling alliance with the Janata Dal (United) and the BJP in neighbouring Bihar, had announced to install statues of the late Phoolan Devi in 18 districts where the Nishads could play a major role in the UPs upcoming 2022 Assembly polls.
To recall, on Friday, Varanasi police had seized statues of Phoolan Devi after locals made a complaint objecting to its installation in the Nishad-dominated locality.
A total of 20 persons, including 17 Thakurs, one Muslim, one Dalit and one belonging to the OBC, were killed, while six others injured by Phoolan and her aides on February 14, 1981 in Behmai in Kanpur Dehat.
The families of the victims are still waiting for justice that has eluded them even 40 years after the carnage.