Punjab: SAD leaders vandalise Rajiv Gandhi’s statue, demand stripping him of Bharat Ratna title

LUDHIANA: In a brazen incident, two Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders - Gurdeep Gosha and Meetpal Singh Dugri - on Tuesday vandalised the statue of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, installed near Salem Tabri here.

Both Gosha and Dugri, who are members of core committee of SAD’s youth wing, blackened the face of statue and then coloured the hands in red paint claiming that Rajiv was killer of Sikhs and he be stripped of Bharat Ratna title. The development comes a day after SAD demanded a special sitting of Punjab Assembly to pass a resolution for withdrawal of Bharat Ratna title conferred on the former PM.

Meanwhile, the Congress leaders of the city were caught unaware about the act of both SAD leaders for a long time and it was only after almost two hours that they managed to reach the spot and started cleaning the statue. However, both SAD leaders Gosha and Dugri remained defiant about their act and surprisingly they kept roaming in the city and visiting different spots, even giving media interviews before announcing that they will themselves court arrest at Gurudwara Field Ganj. What was even more shocking that despite the hue and cry raised by the Congress, police officials did not reach the spot to arrest SAD leaders till the filing of this news report.


Meanwhile, speaking to TOI, both Gosha and Dugri said, “After the court has convicted Sajjan Kumarof being involved in the killing of innocent Sikhs and masterminding Sikh riots after killing of Indira Gandhi by her bodyguards, it is clear that Rajiv Gandhi too was involved in the conspiracy. Not only this he was also involved in creating rift between Hindu and Sikh communities. Therefore, someone who has blood on his hands does not deserve to be given the title of Bharat Ratna and therefore the Union government should immediately withdraw the title given to him by the Congress.”


On the other hand, after Congress workers from all ranks reached the spot of Rajiv Gandhi’s statue and started cleaning the statue and even washed it with milk. A Congress leader, Gursimran Singh Mand, who was amongst the first ones to reach the spot, wiped off the black paint from the statue with his turban.



Speaking to TOI, Gurpreet Gogi, district president of the Congress party, and Rajiv Raja, president of the party's youth wing, said that they would press for imposing harsh sections of the IPC against the SAD leaders who had indulged in this mischief only to grab limelight and a campaign would also be launched to expose the SAD which has raked up issues like these to divert public attention from their misdeeds.