New Delhi: The iconic statue of B.R. Ambedkar at Amritsar’s Hall Bazar near the Golden Temple was vandalised by a man on the evening of Republic Day.
The youth was caught and handed over to the police. The accused has been identified as Akashdeep Singh, son of Bhupinder Singh of Dharamkot. According to an information video released by the Amritsar Police, the accused belongs to the Scheduled Caste community.
Sources in the police added that the motive of the accused and the possible involvement of other persons is being investigated.
According to the police, the youth “symbolically” burnt the stone-carved Constitution book in front of the statue by lighting inflammable material on it.
The incident took place at 3 pm on the busy Heritage Street, which leads to the Golden Temple. The B.R. Ambedkar statue has made the street popular among tourists.
A video of the incident, which is since being circulated on social media, shows the youth sitting atop the 10-foot statue and hammering away at its apex.
Onlookers alerted private security guards, who hollered at him to climb down. When he did, they caught him and handed him over to the police. Another video shows the youth telling the guards he did not get the ladder; it was already there.
Amritsar police commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar told ThePrint that while an investigation was ongoing, there seemed to be no terror angle to the incident. He said the incident also did not seem to have a connection to a statement issued by US-based Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, warning of disturbance on Republic Day.
AIG Amritsar Jagjit Singh Walia told ThePrint, “CCTV footage is being accessed to find out whether the miscreant himself brought the ladder or it was already there when he climbed it. We are also checking the possibility that the ladder had been left on the spot by the cleaners after they had finished cleaning the statue,” said Walia.
Protests erupt
As the news of the vandalism spread, members of the various Dalit bodies in Amritsar gathered near the statue and sat on a dharna, raising slogans and demanding strict action against the accused.
Kumar Darshan, the chairman of the Paawan Valmiki Tirath Action Committee, who led a protest at the spot, said the incident was a fallout of inciting statements by Pannun, who, Darshan said, was radicalising the environment in Punjab.
“We have demanded complete information from the police regarding not only the identity of the person but also who he was working for, who he was in touch with, and how he managed to get such a tall ladder there to carry out the incident,” said Darshan talking to ThePrint. “There are CCTV cameras all along Heritage Street, where the incident took place, and it will be very clear—who all accompanied him— because it is certainly not the handiwork of a single person.”
Darshan added that there is a call for a bandh in Amritsar on Monday and a dharna or sit-in protest at the Bhandari bridge.
Talking to media persons, another leader of the protesters said that the incident was not stray but a part of a larger conspiracy, which the police needed to unearth.
Senior BJP leader and former chairperson of the National Commission for Scheduled Caste Vijay Sampla wrote on X that the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and the Akal Takht should clarify their position regarding the incident.
Ravinder Hans, state president of the AAP Scheduled Castes wing, told ThePrint that the unfortunate incident aimed to create trouble and damage the peace in the state.
“This incident proves some people out there—probably led by agencies—want to create disharmony. The police acted very efficiently and arrested the person. I talked to the police commissioner, asking him to ensure the conspiracy behind this incident came out,” Hans said.
Reacting to the incident, senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader Dr Daljit Cheema said in an X post that it exposed the complete lawlessness in the state. “It is surprising that the incident took place at one of the busiest places of the city & that too on historic Republic Day when the security arrangements are claimed to be maximum by the government,” said Cheema, adding that it has hurt the sentiments of millions of Indians worldwide.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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