Stand-off over statue in Patiala

Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Patiala, January 23

A “victory dance” by SAD candidate and former Army chief General JJ Singh (retd) left onlookers amazed after he garlanded an iron grill on the outer perimeter of the Sewa Singh Thikriwala Chowk here today. This after Thikriwala’s grandson thwarted his attempt to garland the statue.

Gen JJ Singh along with a handful of supporters had gone to the chowk in the morning to kick off his 15-km bicycle rally after garlanding the statue of the former Akali leader and founder of the Praja Mandal movement in Punjab. Before he could do so, Thikriwala’s grandson and ex-Army officer Amarjit Singh Jaijee locked the gate, leading to a standoff.

“I was passing by when I saw some people remove old garlands from my grandfather’s statue. When I objected to it, they said General JJ Singh wanted to garland the statue before his bicycle rally,” said Jaijee, claiming to be a staunch Akali.

“A Sikh with trimmed beard cannot garland my grandfather’s statue. He forgot to honour the freedom fighter on January 19, his anniversary,” Jaijee told The Tribune. Anxious moments were witnessed as both ex-Army officers stood their ground.

“He wanted to confront me but I held my ground and prevented him from honouring my grandfather without my permission. General JJ Singh later garlanded the iron grill on the perimeter and left dancing,” claimed Jaijee. “I know who won the bout and it wasn’t General, for sure,” he said.

Gen JJ Singh told The Tribune: “I wanted to start a bicycle rally after paying tributes to the freedom fighter. But Jaijee, who I believe is a Congress agent, blocked my way and challenged me. I accepted his challenge and garlanded the grill to avoid confrontation.”

Jaijee later maintained he was an Akali despite being related to Capt Amarinder Singh. While JJ Singh represented the Maratha Light Infantry, Jaijee served in 4 Sikh, which took part in The Battle of Saragarhi fought before the Tirah Campaign on September 12, 1897.

Jaijee is one of the five sons of Thikriwala’s daughter Gurcharan Kaur.