Protesters deface ‘Rajiv Chowk’ signboard in Connaught Place, police register case
INCIDENT COMES A DAY AFTER A STATUE OF THE LATE PRIME MINISTER WAS VANDALISED IN LUDHIANA BY AKALI DAL LEADERS
NEW DELHI: A group of protesters, comprising mainly victims of the 1984 anti-sikh riots, vandalised a signboard at Rajiv Chowk near Central Park in Connaught Place on Wednesday.
The protesters sprayed black paint on the word ‘Rajiv’ on a signboard reading Rajiv Chowk and demanded that the commercial hub be named after freedom fighter Shaheed Bhagat Singh instead.
The incident comes a day after a statue of the late prime minister was vandalised in Ludhiana in Punjab by Akali Dal leaders.
The district police registered a first information report (FIR) against unknown people for vandalising public property.
Deputy commissioner of Police (DCP), New Delhi, Madhur Verma said, “An FIR has been registered against unknown people after a complaint was received from an official of the New Delhi Municipal Council. The FIR has been registered under Section 3 of Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act 1984.”
The protestors, including women, raised slogans before vandalising the board.
Surjit Singh, one of the protesters, said seven members of his family, including his father, were killed in the riots in Trilokpuri in 1984.
Singh said the Bharat Ratna awarded to the former PM be taken away and be given to Shaheed Bhagat Singh who “made supreme sacrifice for the nation”.
The Delhi High Court on December 17 had sentenced Congress leader and former Lok Sabha member Sajjan Kumar to life imprisonment for his role in a 1984 anti-sikh riots case.
A senior official of the New Delhi Municipal Council said that the department had directed its officials to restore the board.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and an MLA from Rajouri Garden, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, supported the protesters.
“The act of the victims to paint the name of Rajiv Gandhi black in the national capital cannot be condemned keeping in view their sentiments. This is the anger of 1984 anti-sikh riot victims. We will keep supporting them because their anger and anguish is justified,” Sirsa said.