Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 31: Sikh Progressive Front, J&K has rejected the Government’s offer to install statue of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur at Bhagwati Nagar Chowk in Jammu City.
An emergent online meeting of all the members of Sikh Progressive Front and Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Foundation was held in which the members outrightly rejected Govt’s offer of providing space for installation of statue of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur at Bhagwati Nagar instead of Kunjwan Chowk as it is not acceptable to the Sikh community of JK UT.
The senior members Balvinder Singh, Manjit Singh Bali, Rajinder Singh Sudan, Janak Singh, Paramjit Singh, Jasbir Singh, Iqbal Singh and TP Singh stated that in the first instance Chairman National Sikh Front Varinderjit Singh raised this demand during 2013 and later on formally it was followed by Banda Singh Bahadur Foundation led by its president Balvinder Singh before the Commissioner Jammu Municipal Corporation and finally the representation was forwarded to Commissioner Secretary Housing & Urban Development Department on January 19, 2015.
Singh further stated that no doubt, the claim of our Rajput community for installation of the statue Gulab Singh was older than ours for installation of the statue of Banda Singh Bahadur. Then we held meetings with Rajput Sabha along with Kavinder Gupta ex-Deputy Chief Minister J&K, who committed with the Sikh Community for installation of the statue of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur and we jointly gave proposal to our Rajput brother that statue of Maharaja Gulab Singh should be installed at the entry gate of Lakhanpur and one entry gate must also be constructed there which they agreed and then finally Kavinder Gupta on June 22, 2017 wrote letter to National Highway authority for construction of Gulab Dwar at Lakhanpur and installation of statue of Maharaja Gulab Singh and again Kavinder Gupta wrote letter to District Development Commissioner Jammu on Sept 14, 2017 for release of Rs 20 lakhs from his CDF for the installation of the statue of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur at Kunjwani Chowk.
The members expressed surprise that despite struggle of so many organizations, individuals including Inder Singh Corporator Ward No. 44 who also presented the proposal for naming Kunjwani Chowk and for the installation of the Baba Banda Singh Bahadur at Kunjwani in the JMC House in 2020 and finally get it passed from the JMC House in the year 2020 but despite that the statue has not been installed there at Kunjwani. They said the Govt proposal was not acceptable to them.
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