Ambedkar statue vandalism in Phillaur: SFJ’s Pannun booked for stoking terror
By : Sandhya
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the leader of the outlawed terror group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), was charged on Wednesday with inciting hatred and stoking terror two days after the protective glass surrounding the statue of BR Ambedkar in Phillaur was spray-painted with pro-Khalistan and anti-Constitution slogans. In the case filed at the Phillaur police station, the Jalandhar Rural police also cited the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Khushi Ram, the district in-charge of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and a former sarpanch of Nangal village in Phillaur subdivision, filed a new formal complaint after he allegedly heard an offensive audio recording on Tuesday afternoon in which Pannun threatened to take down Ambedkar's statue from the village.
Before April 14, Ambedkar's birth anniversary, Ram urged that the monument be changed because the individual in the audio recording sounded like Pannun. The SFJ chief said that everyone "who accomplishes the task" would receive ₹10 lakh. The complainant stated in the FIR that "Pannun has once again offended people's religious sentiments and has been attempting to play divisive politics, which cannot be tolerated."