Maharaja Ranjit Singh's statue vandalised in Lahore again, Pakistan minister condemns act

A member of a radical party, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) pulled down the statue at the Lahore Fort. The culprit was arrested for vandalising the statue.

Lahore: The statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who was a Sikh ruler in India in the 19th century, has been vandalised for the third time in Pakistan’s Lahore.

A member of a radical party, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) pulled down the statue at the Lahore Fort. In a video shared on social media, a man could be seen hitting the statue with his hands and damaging its parts.

According to media reports, the act was carried out by a person named Rizwan. He could be seen breaching the railings around the statue and pulling the parts of it.

The culprit was arrested for vandalising the statue.

Information and Broadcasting Minister of Pakistan, Fawad Chaudhry, condemned the act saying that such actions spoil the country’s image.

"Shameful this bunch of illiterates are really dangerous for Pakistan`s image in the world," said Chaudhry on Twitter.

The statue was vandalised on at least two different occasions in the past.

The statue was unveiled at the `Mai Jinda` haveli in Lahore in June 2019. It was earlier vandalised by radical Islamists in August 2019 and then again in December last year.

A teenage visitor had broken the arm of the Maharaja’s statue in December 2020. He later told the police that his `religious sentiments` were hurt seeing the statue of a Sikh ruler at the fort.

Following last year`s incident, the authorities had closed the enclosure which displays the bronze figure of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.