Even Taj doesn’t have special police, but Maya’s statues do
Lucknow, Feb. 4: The Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Thursday passed by voice vote the State Special Zone Security Force Bill, which will allow the Mayawati government to set up a separate police force to guard statues of dalit icons.
Initiating the discussion on the bill, parliamentary affairs minister Lalji Varma said the state police and the PAC were not equipped to ensure security at parks and monuments dedicated to dalit icons. The security of communally sensitive shrines in Kashi, Ayodhya and Mathura had been entrusted to the CISF, he noted.
"Since these monuments have been constructed by the state, their security is also the responsibility of the state," he said, adding that due to the shortage of personnel in the police, it could not be diverted from existing duties to protect these monuments. He added that personnel in the new force would get specialised training.
Opposing the bill, Om Prakash Singh of the BJP said the creation of a special force was not justified, and that if such a force was set up it should also guard monuments like the Imambara, Taj Mahal, Sarnath, Kushinagar etc.
The Bharatiya Janata Party leader said he failed to understand why these statues needed to be protected.
Age Correspondent
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