Bhopal: Amit Azad, a close relative of freedom fighter Chandrashekhar Azad, has threatened to go on an indefinite strike from December 2 if the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) fails to re-install the bust of the freedom fighter.
A bust of Chandrashekhar Azad was removed from a place on Link Road No. 1 in New Market locality about three years ago and was relocated to a roadside. It was replaced by a life-sized statue of Arjun Singh, a former chief minister, who died in 2011. The statue is yet to be unveiled.
The Bharatiya Janata Party also opposed the replacing of Azad’s statue with that of Singh’s.
Amit Azad along with social worker Harpal Singh Rana on Thursday met Governor Lalji Tondon and demanded re-installation of Azad’s statue. The Governor assured them of maintaining the legacy of the freedom fighter.
“If the statue of Chandrashekhar Azad was removed citing traffic problems, has it been solved after installing the statue of Arjun Singh,” said Amit Azad.
He threatened to go on indefinite strike if the administration doesn’t remove the statue of Arjun Singh.
Former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has supported the move.
“Madhya Pradesh is ashamed because of the treatment meted out to the bust of the great revolutionary. Those responsible for this should be punished. We demand the statue of the great son of Mother India be re-installed with due respect,” Chouhan said in a tweet.
