BSP, BJP hold rallies at Nangal village, rake up statue vandalism

At a stone’s throw from each other, BSP’s state president Avtar Singh Karimpuri and BJP’s senior leader Vijay Sampla addressed separate rallies at Nangal village in Phillaur to mark the birth anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar today.

The respective “Punjab Sambhalo” (BSP) and “Anakh Di Jot” (Sampla) rallies were held by respective leaders in the wake of the SFJ vandalism threats to Ambedkar statues in the region until April 14.

While the BSP rally was at the Nangal village chowk at the site of the March 31 vandalism, Sampla’s rally was at the main throughfare by the highway – where another Ambedkar statue remains installed.

BSP state president Avtar Singh Karimpuri, while addressing the crowd at the party’s Punjab Sambhalo Rally at Nangal village in Phillaur, questioned the Congress and BJP’s intent to facilitate constitutional rights for Dalits and later also questioned the “conspiratorial silence” of the ruling dispensation and opposition parties in the state on the issue of the Ambedkar statue vandalism.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Vijay Sampla, along with his supporters, said he was there to guard the statue of Dr BR Ambedkar as per his earlier call for April 14.

Sampla sought an immediate FIR under Sections of the Sacrilege and SC Act against Pannu and the SFJ chief’s extradition from the USA to Punjab.

Both rallies saw singers regaling people with Babasaheb songs and calls for unity amidst recent threats. The mood at both rallies (especially BSP) was that of a consolidation and assertion of Dalit presence in the region amidst dares by the SFJ. Volunteers and villagers had also held theekri pehras for days across Phillaur Goraya villages amidst threats to Ambedkar statues.

Rs 1.2-lakh statue of Dalit icon unveiled

As Nangal village in Phillaur marked the celebrations of the 134th birth anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar, a glistening, brand new statue of Baba Saheb awaited people at Nangal Chowk, the venue where the previous statue had been vandalised on March 3.

The new statue which was showcased today at the venue of the BSP rally was loaded with garlands.

On March 31, the former Ambedkar statue, encased in glass at Nangal village, had been found defaced with provocative slogans and graffiti scrawled across its cover. Soon after separatist group SFJ took responsibility for the incident. A subsequent video by SFJ chief Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, critical of Dr Ambedkar, invited widespread ire in Punjab.

Meanwhile, to prevent vandalism and defacement directed at Ambedkar’s statues, alarmed and alert villagers sourced a “tougher”, taller and brighter fibre-glass statue of Ambedkar from Lucknow to protect Ambedkar’s legacy. Order for a new, statue had been placed on April 9.

Having arrived just in time for the Ambedkar Jayanti, the new statue was inaugurated last evening and remained displayed sans glass today. The total expenses of Rs 1.20 lakh (of which Rs 10,000 being the rent to ferry it from UP), were borne by the villagers.

Village’s panch Khushi Ram (whose wife is sarpanch) said, “The Lucknow firm we ordered this from, is a specialist in Ambedkar, Kanshi Ram and Buddha statues, which dot many villages in Punjab. They have seven, eight statues ready at all times. We ordered ours on April 9.”

Punjab