SAD meeting on Ambedkar statue vandalism today

Party leader Daljit Singh Cheema said the meeting, which would be held at the party’s headquarters here, would be presided over by SAD’s working president Balwinder Singh Bhundar

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday decided to hold an emergency meeting of its working committee on Friday to discuss the vandalism of BR Ambedkar’s statue that took place in Amritsar on January 26. Leaders will also take stock of the progress of the party’s membership drive.

A video clip had gone viral on social media in which the accused was seen hitting the statue multiple times with a hammer. (HT File)

Party leader Daljit Singh Cheema said the meeting, which would be held at the party’s headquarters here, would be presided over by SAD’s working president Balwinder Singh Bhundar.

Regarding the Amritsar incident, Cheema said it was part of a “preplanned and premeditated conspiracy” to disturb peace and communal harmony in the state. “Instead of trying to unmask the conspiracy, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government is trying to cover up the entire incident and trivialise it. The working committee will formulate the party’s strategy to ensure a transparent probe is conducted into the entire matter,” Cheema mentioned in a statement.

Police had on January 26 arrested Akash Singh, a resident of Dharamkot in Moga district, for vandalism of BR Ambedkar’s statue at the Town Hall on Heritage Street that leads to the Golden Temple in Amritsar. A video clip had gone viral on social media in which the accused was seen hitting the statue multiple times with a hammer.

According to Cheema, the meeting would also review the progress of the party’s membership drive which started on January 20. “The meeting will take a review of distribution of booklets for the membership drive as well as feedback from observers posted for the same”, said Cheema.

He said the working committee would also focus on ways and means to get all “bogus” votes registered for the general elections of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee deleted.

He said it would also discuss the current political situation in the state including the state of alleged “lawlessness and abrogation of all duties by chief minister Bhagwant Mann.” (With PTI inputs)