LAHORE: The city police on Tuesday arrested an activist of the banned religious political party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) for vandalising the statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh - the famous ruler of the Sikh empire during the 19th century - placed outside the Lahore fort.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh was the ruler of the Sikh kingdom spreading across many parts of Pakistan, with Punjab being the main territory, parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and even southern parts of the country. His statue was unveiled outside the Lahore Fort at the Mai Jindan Haveli, on the Ranjit Singh's 180th death anniversary, by Sikh historian, writer and filmmaker Bobby Singh Bansal.
Bansal's London-based organisation the S.K. Foundation had funded the statue. It was sculpted by local artists, under the aegis of the Fakir Khana Museum. This is the third time the statue has been vandalised since it's unveiling in June 2019 to commemorate the ruler's death anniversary.
In the latest incident, the attacker, who was identified by police as Rizwan, can be seen chanting slogans in a video clip and breaking off the statue's arm with a hammer and toppling it off the horse before bystanders stop him from causing further damage. They also alerted police and handed the attacker to them.
Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Ghulam Mehmood Dogar while taking notice of the episode said the suspect used a hammer to inflict damage on the statue. He said he directed a superintendent of police to immediately visit the site and take "strict action" against the responsible one(s) as per law, however, no FIR has been registered till filing of this report.
Later, condemnation poured in from various segments of society when the video clip of the incident went viral on social media, with Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry terming it a "shameful" act. "This bunch of illiterates is really dangerous for Pakistan's image in the world," he tweeted.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Communications Dr Shahbaz Gill tweeted that immediate action will be taken against the accused. "Recently, the statue of Samiullah Sahib was also desecrated. These are symptoms of a sick mindset. This is an attempt to undermine Pakistan's assessment," tweeted the premier's aide.
The first attack of vandalism took place in August 2019 when two men struck the statue with wooden rods, resulting in the breakage of one of its arms and damage to other parts. The attackers were chanting slogans against former rulers of Punjab and were protesting against the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status by India.
In the second attack in December 2020, a young man, who was later arrested, broke an arm of the statue made of bronze. Like those before him, the suspect also told the police that Ranjit Singh's statue should not have been built as he had committed atrocities against Muslims during his rule.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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