New Delhi: Trouble’s brewing in Haripur, a prominent city in Pakistan’s Hazara region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, named after its founder — the legendary Sikh commander Hari Singh Nalwa. While many, including a BBC Urdu article, reported that it was his statue as a sword-wielding horseman that was removed from the Siddique-i-Akbar Chowk, some are also claiming it to be “fake news”.
According to an ANI report, which quotes Pakistan Today, the development “hit the sentimental and religious values” of the Sikh community in Pakistan. The eight-foot-tall metal statue had to be removed after some religious parties objected to its installation, a Dawn report said, quoting sources.
The News International reported that “the statue… became controversial when the chowk was called Ghora Chowk instead of Siddiq-e-Akbar Chowk that annoyed the activists of religious parties who demanded removal of the monument.”
Ae Pathan Warrior da Statue C Par Chowk da Name Abu bakar siddique (r.a) de Naa ty C Jis ty aam Lok bura Manaande C K ik waddi Hasti de Name ty chowk, Par kisy da Statue laga hoay ga ty confusion ho jandi, ik Video laana fer sab dasna Hari Singh Nalwa ny Ya Pathan Warrior 👇 pic.twitter.com/gfY0hfFzOd
— Babar Jalandhari ਬਾਬਰ ਜਲੰਧਰੀ (@BabarJalandhari) February 2, 2022
According to Dawn, the structure was installed in September 2017 with its cemented base, priced at around PKR 2.5 million. A new structure named after the first caliph of Islam Hazrat Abdul Bakar (RA), will be installed at Siddique-i-Akbar Chowk.
However, the Pakistani publication also claimed that the removed statue would be re-installed on the GT Road.
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Outrage, confusion and chaos
The reaction to the news was wide-ranging. Most people on the internet flagged their concerns over “attacks” on the minority communities in the country. There were, however, those who claimed that the ‘BBC report wasn’t fact-checked properly,’ and that “any Sikh could tell that this statue is not of a Sikh.” Critics point out that if the intention of those opposing the statue was to erase the city’s ‘Sikh identity’, then there would be no logic to let the name remain ‘Haripur’.
Soon after the statue was removed, before-after pictures surfaced over social media.
Pakistan is a living hell for its minority communities…
The Statue of Great Sikh General Hari Singh Nalwa removed from Haripur & square renamed as Saddique Akbar Chowk.
What else can be expected from an intolerant nation like Pak? pic.twitter.com/d6vOFuZpET
— Ashmita Mehta (@AshmitaMehta_) January 30, 2022
While some users on Twitter expressed their outrage, others were confused by the new installation or the lack of it.
It is because of the legendary commander Hari Singh Nalwa that the Northwest areas, including Peshawar, are in Pakistan today. Hatred towards Sikhs, who once ruled them, makes these illiterate people ignore their own history. pic.twitter.com/NCwqsD4uL5
— Rakesh Krishnan Godse (@ByRakeshSimha) January 30, 2022
Pakistan’s radicals once again hurt Sikh sentiments by removing The Statue of Great Sikh General Hari Singh Nalwa from Haripur and square renamed as Saddique Akbar Chowk
Khalistanis will now go into hibernation!! pic.twitter.com/Tm58D3vKL1
— Ayushi (@AyushiGupta_in) January 30, 2022
Some internet users, especially from the Sikh community, saw the incident as an attempt to “erase Sikh history”.
Pakistan: Sikh General Hari Singh Nalwa's statue removed in Haripur city and square has been renamed Siddique Akbar Chowk, after protests by clerics against the statue.
Another attempt to erase traces of Sikhi? pic.twitter.com/ULqXPeY8qa
— Navdeep Singh (@Navdeep_UK) January 31, 2022
Besides some ‘hot takes’ here and there on Twitter, not many Pakistani publications or news channels covered the news.
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Who was Hari Singh Nalwa?
Hari Singh, born in Gujranwala, Punjab in 1791, was known to be the Sikh warrior the Afghans were scared of. He reportedly received the title of ‘Nalwa’ after he killed a tiger at a young age from Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
He was also known to be one of the most reliable commanders in Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s army, and later, went on to become the Governor of Kashmir, Hazara, and Peshawar.
Afghanistan has struggled to retain peace in the recent past, with the Taliban taking over and establishing control in August 2021. But there was once a time when this legendary Sikh commander defeated the Afghans, making him the “most feared Sikh warrior” of his time.
To this date, many historians believe that if Nalwa did not defeat the Afghans and take control of the northwest frontier, then those regions would have ended up in the territory of Afghanistan, making life difficult for India.