Nehru's statue vandalised in Assam's Cachar, Congress demands strict action against miscreants

The statue of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister, was allegedly brought down by unidentified miscreants in Assam’s Cachar, triggering political outrage and demands for arrests. The incident occurred late February 23 night at Pailapool, where the statue had stood for several years as a mark of respect to the former national leader.

According to local Congress leaders, the vandalism was not an act of spontaneous damage but a “deliberate demolition.” CCTV cameras installed in the market area under the supervision of the Pailapool Merchant Association reportedly captured visuals of the statue being pulled down using an excavator while residents were asleep. The footage, party leaders claim, clearly shows the planned nature of the act.

The Indian National Congress Lakhipur Mandal unit strongly condemned the incident, describing it as an attack not merely on a statue but on the legacy of a leader who played a central role in shaping independent India. On Tuesday, the party lodged a formal complaint at Lakhipur Police Station, demanding immediate identification and arrest of those responsible and strict legal action against them.

Former district Congress president Pradip Kumar Dey told journalists that the act was carried out with clear intent. He asserted that the entire sequence of events was captured on surveillance cameras and urged the police to act without delay. Dey warned that if the accused are not arrested within two days, the Lakhipur Congress will launch a major agitation in protest.

The incident has sparked widespread speculation about possible political motives behind the demolition. While some residents believe the act could have been driven by a larger agenda, others have described it as a disturbing reflection of intolerance toward historical figures. Several voices in the locality expressed shock that a statue of a former Prime Minister could be targeted in such a manner.