Condemnation poured in after a nine-feet cold bronze statue of the first Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh was vandalised by an activist of the banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) at the Lahore Fort in Pakistan’s Punjab province. A video of the incident has gone viral and the local police said the accused has been arrested and strict action will be taken against him.
Pakistan’s minister for information and broadcasting Fawad Chaudhary called the act shameful and the vandal an illiterate, dangerous for the nation’s global image. Taking to Twitter, he wrote, “This bunch of illiterates are really dangerous for Pakistan’s image in the world.”
In a statement, Lahore’s capital city police officer said the suspect used a hammer to inflict damage on the statue.
Special assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan on political communication Dr Shahbaz Gill said this was an attempt to undermine Pakistan’s assessment and were symptoms of a sick mindset. He said immediate action will be taken against the accused.
“These are symptoms of a sick mindset. This is an attempt to undermine Pakistan’s assessment,” he was quoted as saying in a report.
According to an article in Dawn.com, the chief minister of Punjab in Pakistan, Usman Buzdar, has also taken note of the incident and directed the Lahore CCPO to submit a report in this regard. He further directed that action be taken against the suspect in accordance with the law, and ordered for the statue to be restored to its original form, the report said.
Meanwhile, India has also expressed concern over the incident with the Ministry of External Affairs describing it as “disturbing” and said such acts of violence against minorities are increasing at an alarming rate in Pakistan. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “We have seen disturbing reports in the media about the vandalization of the statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Lahore today. This is the third such incident wherein the statue has been vandalized since it was unveiled in 2019.”
Maharaja Ranjit Singh was the founder of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century.
(With agency inputs)