Guwahati: Two leading youth fronts in Assam were among several sociopolitical groups that condemned the defilement of Don Bosco’s statue in Guwahati on Friday morning.
The All Assam Students Union (AASU) and the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP, Assam nationalist young students’ council) also supported the installation of Don Bosco’s statue at a public place in Guwahati, the nerve center of northeastern India.
“Don Bosco has made a huge contribution to society and his statue should definitely be erected. But the government should have discussed the issue with the people before going ahead with the installation,” said AJYCP president Biraj Talukdar.
AASU president Dipanka Kumar Nath asserted that “Don Bosco’s contribution is immense. The statue should be erected.”
Some other groups, including the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, Indian people’s party), opposed the move alleging that the founder of the Salesians of Don Bosco congregation has not contributed anything to the Assamese society. They also found it offensive to install the statue of an Italian spiritual leader along with sociopolitical leaders of Assam at a public place.
They alleged that the state’s Congress party government approved the statue installation to please their party president Sonia Gandhi, an Italian by birth.
The statue was to be installed at Bharalumukh riverfront in the city on Friday. The statue was supposed to be set up near Nabin Chandra Bordoloi Library near Dighali Pukhuri but was later shifted to what many call “patriotic corner,” following protests from Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (All India Student Council), the student wing of BJP, and students of Cotton College.
On Friday morning a mob came and pushed the statue into the Bharalu river.
“At around 6 am, a group of more than 100 people came to the place. They started pelting stones and flower tubs at the statue and later threw the statue into the Bharalu. As a result, the arm of the statue broke,” said a teacher of Don Bosco School, Panbazar.
Three police personnel were injured while trying to prevent the mob from damaging the statue. The police have not arrested anyone so far.
The miscreants fled soon after and the people of Don Bosco Society retrieved the statue from the river.
Fr Sebastian Mathew, rector and principal, Don Bosco School, Panbazar, Guwahati, described the incident as sad and unfortunate. “People with vested interests have incited some fringe groups. Everybody knows Don Bosco’s contribution to the Assamese society, and generations of Bosconians have marched out of the hallowed gates of Don Bosco School. I sincerely hope that one day the people of Guwahati will come forward and erect the statue of St John Bosco.”
The incident has come at a time when people of Assam are demanding preservation of singer Bhupen Hazarika’s house in Calcutta and the house of litterateur Lakshminath Bezbaroa’s house at Chambal in Odisha – an issue that has largely focused upon also by people from Odisha.
Meanwhile state Chief Minister Gogoi has “strongly condemned” the incident and has said in a statement, “We understand the local sentiments but at the same time, we must acknowledge the contribution made by John Bosco in the field of education and society at large.”
After the incident, Kamrup (metro) deputy commissioner M. Angamuthu visited the place and said, “We are trying to go ahead with consensus from people of all sections. People should not spread unnecessary rumors or we will have to take strong action. We are trying to strictly regulate the activities and we will not allow the public for further attack,” Angamuthu told the media.
Assam Pradesh Congress Committee has also reacted sharply and said such incident went against the state’s culture.
In a statement, senior PCC spokesperson Apurba Kumar Bhattacharyya said there are reasons to believe that forces of religious intolerance had resorted to such vandalism.
It should be recalled that four years ago when the relic of St John Bosco was brought to Guwahati AASU delegation had honored the saint publically and escorted the convoy of vehicles to Don Bosco School Panbazar where Don Bosco relic was given a civic reception.