Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday claimed the "BJP is now moving bulldozers" even on the memorials of martyrs in Uttar Pradesh, a charge that was rubbished by a state minister and district administration.
His wife Dimple Yadav, Lok Sabha from Mainpuri, said martyrs were being insulted to "benefit the BJP land mafia".
Their remarks came over an incident in Mainpuri district's Kishni tehsil where the boundary wall of a memorial built to honour Kargil martyr Munish Yadav was allegedly demolished by officials last week.
Tourism and Culture Minister Jaiveer Singh said the allegations levelled by the SP leaders were "baseless" and "devoid of any fact".
Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Kishni (SDM) Gopal Sharma told PTI the martyr's wife Manju Devi and his brother Avnish Kumar had complained to District Magistrate Avinash Krishna on Friday that in connivance with the land mafia, the boundary wall of the memorial was bulldozed by the 'lekhpal' and 'kanungo' (revenue officials) on August 29, without giving any notice.
Mr Sharma said an illegal temporary construction near the statue was demolished, but the boundary wall of the memorial was not touched.
The SDM also said that the district magistrate has ordered an inquiry and the 'lekhpal' involved in the matter has been suspended.
The SP president condemned the incident, saying, "The BJP is now moving bulldozers on the memorials of martyrs."
"The administration has done the audacity to destroy the statue memorial of Kargil martyr Munish Yadav built in 2000 in Mainpuri at the behest of the government, which is causing a silent anger among the soldiers and patriots of the country," Mr Yadav added in a statement issued by the party.
"The BJP leaders can never understand the value of martyrdom of those who sacrificed their lives for the honour of the country because history is a witness (to the fact) that those who, instead of supporting the freedom fighters in the independence movement, acted as the eyes and ears of the colonial rulers -- how can they know the value of sacrifice?" he said.
Mr Yadav also said that the BJP's politics has started "discriminating even among martyrs" and called it "the worst form of negative politics." He added that if the BJP has even a little bit of shame left, it should immediately suspend all the senior officials from 'mandal' to the district level and restore the statue-memorial with full respect, otherwise, the Samajwadi Party will step in and rebuild the statue.
Mainpuri MP Dimple Yadav in a post on X in Hindi, said that "martyrs are being insulted to benefit BJP land mafia".
"...Taking away the respect of those who sacrificed their lives for the country through the administration under pressure from bullies shows the insensitivity of this government," she added.
Speaking to PTI, Mr Singh, who is also the MLA from Mainpuri, asserted, "The statue of the martyr is safe."
Elaborating further, he told PTI, "A soldier belonging to the Yadav community had attained martyrdom, and his memorial was built in a village in Kishni tehsil of Mainpuri district. About 60-70 metres from the statue, there is a chak road (the road which leads to a farm). The brother of the martyr had illegally blocked the road by installing barbed wires."
"Villagers have been submitting applications regularly in the tehsil office, so that the road could be restored (for public use). Two days ago, the lekhpal had gone there, and had identified it. The road is still closed, and the person (martyr's brother) has been asked to remove the barbed wire," Mr Singh said.
SDM Sharma said, "The allegations of demolition of the boundary wall of the martyr's memorial are false." The district administration had approved land for the martyr's memorial in Ghutara village, which was built 50 metres away from the chak road. However, some people built an illegal construction on a section of the road, blocking access for other farmers, he told PTI.
After complaints, the revenue officials measured the area and removed the illegal construction to restore access. The boundary wall of the memorial remains untouched, the officer added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
