Akalis vandalise Rajiv Gandhi statue in Ludhiana
Mohit Behl | TNN | Updated: Dec 26, 2018, 07:06 IST
Members of SAD’s youth wing deface a statue of Rajiv GandhiLUDHIANA: Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday criticized Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and sought his apology after two SAD activists in Ludhiana vandalised the statue of slain prime minister Rajiv Gandhi near Salem Tabri.
“Indulgence in such petty and condemnable actions will not absolve you or your family of the many sins of omission and commission against the Guru Granth Sahib and the Sikh community,” the chief minister said and directed the police to immediately identify the culprits responsible and take stringent action against them, as per law.
Gurdeep Gosha and Meetpal Singh Dugri, who are members of core committee of SAD’s youth wing blackened the statue’s face and coloured its hands in red paint. They were demanding the former prime minister should be stripped of Bharat Ratna, awarded to him posthumously.
Immediately after the Akali act of vandalism, Congress workers cleaned the statue and even washed it with milk. Local Congress leader Gursimran Singh Mand was among the first ones to reach the spot and he wiped off black paint with his turban.
A police case under the Punjab Property Defacement Act 1997 was registered against both Gosha and Dugri and Gosha was arrested. According to reliable sources the second accused Meetpal Dugri will surrender in court tomorrow morning after SAD's protest
Senior Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia has opposed the FIR filed against his party’s activists and has given a call for a protest on Wednesday morning outside the Ludhiana mini-secretariat.
“Indulgence in such petty and condemnable actions will not absolve you or your family of the many sins of omission and commission against the Guru Granth Sahib and the Sikh community,” the chief minister said and directed the police to immediately identify the culprits responsible and take stringent action against them, as per law.
Gurdeep Gosha and Meetpal Singh Dugri, who are members of core committee of SAD’s youth wing blackened the statue’s face and coloured its hands in red paint. They were demanding the former prime minister should be stripped of Bharat Ratna, awarded to him posthumously.
Immediately after the Akali act of vandalism, Congress workers cleaned the statue and even washed it with milk. Local Congress leader Gursimran Singh Mand was among the first ones to reach the spot and he wiped off black paint with his turban.
A police case under the Punjab Property Defacement Act 1997 was registered against both Gosha and Dugri and Gosha was arrested. According to reliable sources the second accused Meetpal Dugri will surrender in court tomorrow morning after SAD's protest
Senior Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia has opposed the FIR filed against his party’s activists and has given a call for a protest on Wednesday morning outside the Ludhiana mini-secretariat.
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