The Jalandhar municipal corporation has replaced the old statue of martyr Bhagat Singh with another sculpture that does not resemble the freedom fighter. Congress MLA from Jalandhar north, Bawa Henry, and mayor Jagdish Raja had installed the new statue on Monday at the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chowk on the eve of 90th death anniversary of the freedom fighter. The statue cost ₹5 lakh, records show.
The BJP and the SAD have slammed the Congress government in the state and accused it of disrespecting martyrs. Senior BJP leader and former cabinet minister Manorajan Kalia on Wednesday wrote a letter to Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, demanding a probe into the matter.
“In the name of beautification, the bust statue of Shaheed Bhagat Singh has been replaced by a 5-feet statue at a crossing named after him. The new statue of does not resemble photographs of the martyr available in public domain,” the letter says.
He added that it was also surprising that in the plaque announcing the installation, the name of the martyr had been relegated to the bottom with a font size smaller than the names of other local leaders.
Kalia adds in his communication, “It is therefore requested that an inquiry may kindly be ordered to be instituted to fix the responsibility of municipal corporation officers and the recovery of public money that has been given wasted by giving approval to the freshly-installed statue be made from the guilty officer.”
{{/usCountry}}Kalia adds in his communication, “It is therefore requested that an inquiry may kindly be ordered to be instituted to fix the responsibility of municipal corporation officers and the recovery of public money that has been given wasted by giving approval to the freshly-installed statue be made from the guilty officer.”
{{/usCountry}}SAD legislator from Adampur, Pawan Kumar Tinu, added that this was a major blunder and the statue even showed the martyr raising his left hand, instead of right as was the case in all other sculptures of the martyr. “The Punjab government should take strict action against the erring officials. The Congress party has disrespect a national hero.”
Jalandhar mayor Jagdish Raja told HT over phone that he agreed that the statue did not resemble Bhagat Singh. “We will replace the statue,” he claimed.