The statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, situated in Pakistan's Lahore city was vandalised on Friday by some miscreants, reportedly after listening to speeches of some radicals. Maharaja Ranjit Singh, popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab, ruled over the Sikh empire in the Punjab region in the early half of the 19th century.
Local Police have arrested one teenager identified as Zaheer, a resident of Harbanspura, Lahore. According to available reports he along with his companions broke the left arm of the statue installed at Royal Fort in Lahore.
The bronze statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh was unveiled in June last year at Lahore fort near Haveli Maharani Jindan, on the 180th death anniversary of him. Maharaja Ranjit Singh died in 1839. The nine-foot-tall statue was unveiled to commemorate the legacy of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
Made of bronze, the statue has been sculpted by local artists under the guidance of the Fakir Khana Museum. The statue shows the emperor sitting on a horse, and carrying a sword. Three plates of brass are displayed in three languages - Urdu, Gurmukhi and English to narrate brief history of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The platform on which the statue is erected is decorated with old-designed 'Nanakshahi' bricks.
The statue is located in an open space outside the Maharani Jindian Kaur Haveli, also known as the Sikh Gallery, in Lahore Fort, close to the building that houses Ranjit Singh’s grave and the Gurdwara Dera Sahib of Guru Arjun Dev.
Barely months after the statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh was unveiled in June 2019, it was vandalised by two miscreants, Adnan Mughal and Asad in August 2019. According to reports, they were upset with the Indian government's decision to scrap Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcate the state into two union territories.
