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Lohia’s bust on Lucknow University campus damaged, SP student body stages stir
Members of Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha protest the damage done to the bust of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia at Lucknow University. LU authorities condemn the act and are working to restore the bust. Protesters demand an investigation and arrest of the culprits.
Members of the Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha, students wing of the Samajwadi Party staged a sit in on Monday to register their protest against the damage done the bust of socialist thinker Dr Ram Manohar Lohia near commerce building of the Lucknow University (LU). The protesters submitted a memorandum to LU officials in which they have demanded that the bust of the socialist leader be repaired quickly.
The LU authorities condemned the act of vandalism.
They said help of teachers from Arts College sculpture department has been taken for a restoration job, which they said would be completed at the earliest.
“Miscreants committed a dastardly act by damaging Lohia ji’s bust. We have demanded that LU administration should order a probe into the incident and arrest the culprits,” said Taukeel Ghazi, a Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha member.
Protesters claimed that the bust was intact till Saturday. The LU was closed on Sunday but when it reopened on Monday, the bust was damaged.
Lohia’s bust installed during the regime of former LU vice chancellor Mahendra Singh Sodha on April 21, 1994 when Rakesh Singh Rana and Onkar Bharti served as the president and general secretary of LU student union.
