Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Restored Statue Unveiled at Pakistan’s Kartarpur Sahib

After failing to stop extremists from vandalizing it repeatedly, the statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh has now been installed inside the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, in the Panjab province of Pakistan. The restored nine-foot-tall bronze statue of the ruler of the Sikh empire was unveiled at Kartarpur Sahib, north east of Lahore, amidst a gathering of Sikh community from Pakistan and India on 27 Jun, his death anniversary (SDW Vol. 2 Issue 26, Updates). Initially, this statue was installed at Lahore Fort on Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s 180th death anniversary on 27 Jun 2019. However, it was vandalized thrice by fanatics in 2019, 2020, and 2022. The third vandalism was condemned by the then Pakistan Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry, ‘This bunch of illiterates are really dangerous for Pakistan’s image in the world.’ This statue has been placed at a park named after Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the most successful Panjabi monarch of Sikh descent, who won ‘Greatest Leader of All Times’ in 2020 at the BBC World Histories Magazine poll. Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s statue at Lahore Fort had historical significance and served as a memorial for his almost 40-year rule over Panjab from Lahore. By shifting the statue to a Gurdwara, Pakistan has undone its own effort to tell the unbiased history of Lahore Fort to the upcoming generations. Babar Jalandhari, an activist promoting the Panjabi language in Pakistan, said, ‘We are proud of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Panjab was orphaned after his death. The attack on his statue in Lahore and the government’s silent surrender to such attacks by relocating it to Kartarpur Sahib is a defeat for the government. I want this statue to be relocated to Lahore Fort.’