Malwa youth body chief held for smudging signboards

BATHINDA The district police on Tuesday arrested gangster-turned-activist Lakhbir Singh Lakha Sidhana for allegedly smudging Hindi and English signboards on the BathindaFaridkot road.

Senior superintendent of police Navin Singla said a case under Prevention of Damage to Public and Property Act was registered against Sidhana, who is president of the Malwa Youth Federation, and senior vicepresident of Dal Khalsa Hardeep Singh and 50 unidentified persons.

The cases were registered after activists of the federation, Dal Khalsa, SAD (Amritsar) and BKU (Krantikari) smudged signboards on the 20km stretch of the NH-15 on the BathindaFaridkot road on October 21.

Activists of these organisations had launched a campaign demanding names of places on signboards to be written with Punjabi on top as names in Punjabi are written at bottom on signboards along the highway.

The protesters had resorted to similar action earlier also. A delegation had also met Bathinda deputy commissioner last month. Activists claimed that as nothing happened, they decided to again smudge the boards.

Police tried to stop the protesters who also blocked the road as a mark of protest. They stopped only after assurance from the administration.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal had also demanded that the primacy of Punjabi language on signboards on national highways be restored in the state, saying that the people of Punjab were “hurt” by the existing trend.

Following protests, the public works department (buildings and roads) decided put Punjabi on the top.