3 Months After His Death, Uttarakhand Builds A Memorial To Shaktiman

Dehradun: A spirited white horse rearing on its hind legs - that's how Shaktiman appears in his memorial. But it was his hind leg, broken during a BJP protest, that led to his death.

Back in March, visuals of the horse dragging his bloodied and mangled leg had moved many. The 14-year-old Kathawari geld of the Uttarakhand mounted police, which featured in parades since he was a three-year-old, had died on April 20 - failing to take to a prosthetic leg.
 The larger-than-life statute stands at the Rispana chowk, on the exact spot where he had been injured. The busy intersection is located near the Uttarakhand Assembly, which became the center of a political upheaval the hill-state soon after.

The renaming of the intersection is being seen as votebank politics by the BJP, which had gone on the backfoot since the horse was injured.

One of its lawmakers --- Ganesh Joshi -- had been accused of instigating the attack on Shaktiman. Following television footage of the horse taking multiple blows, condemnation for its attackers had flooded the social media.

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Mr Joshi, who was arrested and let off on bail, denied any involvement, saying, "I am very sad. I was not at fault...if I am found guilty, then cut off my leg."
 Following the horse's death, he had faced fresh criticism, with Union minister Maneka Gandhi saying the horse was an officer on duty and Mr Joshi "should be arrested for killing a police officer".

Her party, the BJP, however, accused the state's ruling Congress of politicizing the tragedy and trying to keep its legislator from assembly proceedings. At the time, the state at was going through a political turmoil and the BJP said Mr Rawat was trying to stop Mr Joshi from voting in the assembly.

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Uttarakhand was later placed under President's Rule - a decision that was overturned by the Supreme Court in May.