NEW DELHI: The leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Adesh Gupta, local unit chief on Wednesday protested near Pakistan High Commission against desecration of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s statue installed at Lahore fort.
Gupta said that the incident indicated the fundamentalist mentality of people in Pakistan which India could never tolerate. He said that desecration is violation of international norms and rules. He demanded a ban on the organisation involved in the vandalism.
“India will never tolerate anything like this. In fact, people with such fundamentalist mentality should never be spared and punished. The outfit behind this act should be immediately banned,” he said. The Delhi BJP leader stated that the party believes in brotherhood and humanity. Our country has no place for people with fundamentalist and extremist mentality.
The protestors were detained by the Delhi Police and not allowed to proceed towards the high commission. The protestors earlier submitted a memorandum demanding strict action and arrest of culprits involved in vandalism. Along with the youth wing of the party, members of Purvanchal and Sikh cells also participated in the demonstration.
The statue was installed in 2019 and it got vandalised on Tuesday by a member of a religious organisation. It was the third time this incident happened after the installation of the statue. Several Sikh delegates from India and Pakistan participated in the unveiling of the statue of the Sikh ruler. The event was organised by Bobby Singh Bansal, from the UK, in collaboration with the Walled City of Lahore Authority. The video of the vandal sloganeering while smashing the statue went viral on social media. The police arrested the vandal who belonged to Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan.
‘No place for extremist ideology’
“BJP believes in brotherhood and humanity. Our country has no place for people with fund-amentalist and extremist mentality. They shouldn’t be spared,” BJP said.