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Tension after Ambedkar statue defaced at Nangal village in Punjab’s Phillaur
Efforts on to arrest accused, who was caught on camera smearing black ink on statue before spray-painting anti-Constitution and pro-Khalistan slogans on the boundary wall of a nearby government school at Nangal village in Phillaur sub division of Jalandhar district.
Two months after a similar incident, a statue of BR Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution, was vandalised at Nangal village of Phillaur sub division in Jalandhar district on Monday, triggering tension. CCTV cameras captured a masked man defacing the statue and efforts are on to arrest him.
Banned outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) chief Gurpatwant Singh Pannun took responsibility for the incident in a video posted on social media, claiming that the Constitution of India was “responsible for the attack on Akal Takht (the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs) during Operation Bluestar in June 1984”.
SFJ activists had vandalised another Ambedkar statue at Nangal village on March 31. The administration had installed protective glass around that statue.
Amritpal Bhonsle, a local Dalit leader, said the accused was caught on camera smearing black ink on Ambedkar’s face before spray-painting anti-Constitution and pro-Khalistan slogans on the boundary wall of the nearby government school. “It is unfortunate that the such an incident has happened again in the village,” Bhonsle said, adding activists of Dalit organisations are holding a meeting to decide on the future course of action.
He demanded the arrest of the accused at the earliest and strict deterrent action.
A case was registered under Section 299 (hurting religious sentiments) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at Phillaur police station.
Senior officials of the Jalandhar rural police were at the spot. “We are gathering CCTV footage from nearby areas to trace the route the accused took. He will be arrested soon,” a senior police official said.
On April 4, two SFJ activists, Sukhbir Singh and Avtar Singh, both residents of Nurpur Chatha village in Jalandhar district, were arrested for defacing the statue on March 31. The police had booked Pannun also in the case.
Monday’s incident comes four months after a statue of Ambedkar, who led the Dalit rights movement, was vandalised on Heritage Street leading to the Golden Temple in Amritsar on January 26, triggering tension in the border state.
In Punjab, Dalits constitute 32% of the total population, a figure roughly double the national average of 16.6%. The Doaba region, including Jalandhar district, has a sizeable Dalit population and the move by the separatist outfit is seen as a mischievous bid to spark off social and communal tension in the state.
After the Republic Day incident when a youngster climbed atop the statue in Amritsar and tried to vandalise it, the authorities decided that all Ambedkar statues would be secured with toughened glass to prevent any damage to them.
