The repeated vandalism of statues of Dalit icon BR Ambedkar across Punjab over the past year has been a cause for concern for the government with a pattern emerging in all these incidents.
Such incidents usually take place around Ambedkar Jayanti. The day falls on April 14 when the sentiments of his followers remain all-time high.
Even March 31 is an important day as on this day Bharat Ratna was conferred posthumously on Ambedkar in 1990.
Secondly, most incidents took place in Doaba, where the Dalit community dominates and caste conflicts tend to flare up quickly. Such incidents can disturb the peace in such a fragile socio-political landscape.
Similar incidents have occurred outside Doaba too.
One such incident had taken place on the Republic Day last year in Amritsar. A man climbed a statue using a ladder and attempted to damage it with a hammer, triggering outrage and immediate arrest.
Statues have been targeted in Patiala and Faridkot too.
Third, such incidents are being repeated at places that have already been targeted.
The site where the statue was vandalised on Monday evening at Nurpur Jattan village of Hoshiarpur had also been targeted on June 11 last year. The Dalit icon’s statue at Nangal village of Phillaur had been vandalised twice —on March 31 last year and then again almost two months later on June 2, 2025.
After the incidents, there has been a trend to install a protective glass frame around the statues.
At the private property where the incident took place, safety glass had been installed but that too was smashed by miscreants with rods and hammers.
‘Attempt to create communal divide’
BJP leader and former MLA Sheetal Angural termed the incident as an “attempt to create communal differences”. He said the incident reflected the failure on the part of the Punjab Police to maintain law and order.
Phillaur-based Dalit leader from Congress leader Amritpal Bhonsle said, “(Gurpatwant Singh) Pannun wants to incite unrest by getting the statues of Baba Sahib disrespected. The Centre should take strict action against him.”
Jalandhar Range DIG Naveen Singla said, “The statue at Noorpur Jattan was installed at a private land owned by an NRI in the centre of the fields.”
He said after a similar incident at the spot last year, a protective glass was installed around it. He said security personnel were also deployed there.
“As the time progressed, the security was withdrawn and a proposal was made to shift the statue to a safer site. Owing to opposition, the shifting could not take place. We have got the statue repaired within hours. We are in the process of installing a glass frame again,” he added.
He said there certainly was a pattern to the incidents and dates were specially chosen to disturb the community. He added that there are at least 300 statues of Dr Ambedkar in his range area and it was practically quite difficult to protect them all. Congress leader Bhonsle too cited figures.
He said that there were at least 70 statues in Phillaur alone and there could be as many as 1,500 in the rest of Punjab.
