Alter of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Gopal Patha vandalized day ahead of anniversary celebration in Central Kolkata

Tensions flared in central Kolkata's Sukiya Street area on Sunday morning after unidentified miscreants vandalized the altar of a newly installed monument dedicated to Jan Sangh founder Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee and Gopal 'Patha' Mukherjee. The incident was discovered around 7:00 AM on the eve of Dr. Mookerjee's 125th birth anniversary celebrations. While the upper busts of the statues remained entirely intact, the lower portion of the concrete altar was broken, and the primary name plaque was found shattered and scattered across the pavement directly in front of the structure.

The timing of the vandalism has triggered intense political discussion across West Bengal, as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) administration had planned grand state-wide celebrations to mark the milestone anniversary. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to arrive in Kolkata on Monday, July 6, to spearhead multiple commemorative events, which include designating land and performing a 'Bhoomi Puja' for a massive 125-foot statue of Dr. Mookerjee at Eco Park in New Town. The targeted Sukiya Street monument, located very close to the historic Rammohan Library on APC Road, was fully prepared for its official public inauguration on the same day.

Following the discovery of the damage, local BJP leadership issued strong statements of condemnation and initiated active field protests demanding immediate accountability. Officers from the local police station rushed to the spot to secure the immediate periphery and defuse community anger. Law enforcement officials have launched a formal criminal investigation into the act of desecration, with specialized teams actively retrieving and scanning local closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage from the surrounding commercial buildings to identify the perpetrators.