Maharaja Ranjit Singh Maharaja Ranjit Singh statue vandalised in Lahore: ISI-Khalistanis rift emerges
Islamabad: The vandalization of a statue of Sikh icon Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Lahore city of Pakistan not only triggered condemnation from a section of the society but also brought to fore a rift between the Pak spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Pak-sponsored Khalistanis.
The acts of insulting elements related to Sikh identities in Pakistan and the efforts to push anti-Maharaja Ranjit Singh narrative has led to the intensification of the tussle between the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Khalistanis they sponsor, reports Zee News.
In a major development, sources suggest that a faction of Khalistanis are demanding ‘Greater Khalistan’ that includes Pakistani Punjab with Lahore as its capital.
These groups are demanding Sikh groups to issue a new map of Khalistan and to begin a new movement to claim the region of Pakistani Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as parts of Khalistan, the Indian news channel reported.
Meanwhile, the incident has earned condemnation as Sikh historian, writer and filmmaker Bobby Singh Bansal told Dawn News that there would always be people who would remain unaware of Punjab’s rich Sikh history.
“There has been so much apathy and mistrust over the Partition that it has caused misinformation and misunderstanding between Muslims and Sikhs as well as other religions,” he said. “It is sad that people target a monument without knowing the facts.”
Bansal said that unfortunately Sikh history had never been taught in Pakistan’s schools.
Most students know about Mughal and British rule, but absolutely nothing about how Sikhs ruled for so long in a secular manner, he said.
Bansal’s London-based organisation the S.K. Foundation had funded the statue, reports Dawn News.
Minority rights activist and chairperson of the People’s Commission for Minority Rights (PCMR), Peter Jacob, told Dawn News that it was time to keep in check the kind of intolerance that has seeped into society, and which has also received impunity in the public discourse.
One Arrested:
One person has been so far been arrested in connection with the incident.
The teenager who has now been arrested had been influenced by the now deceased Khadim Hussain Rizvi, who had preached hate against the Sikh ruler, reports Dawn News.
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