Ambedkar statue to be unveiled on April 14

Tribune News Service

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Jalandhar, April 10

Readied more than four months ago, it will be finally on April 14 that the statue of Dr BR Ambedkar will be unveiled at the district administrative complex here.

The statue of the architect of the Indian Constitution, which had been placed on a pedestal at the entrance of the complex, had been lying covered with plastic cover since December last. Owing to winds and changing weather conditions, the plastic covers had to be changed a number of times to ensure that the statue remained covered properly.

Administration officials said the unveiling ceremony would now be finally done by Punjab minister Rana Gurjit Singh to be followed by a state-level Ambedkar Jayanti programme of the government at a local college campus.

Sources said the administration had readied the statue hurriedly and it was then awaiting the visit of a senior leader of the previous government to unveil it to help it attain some mileage, but by then the model code for elections came into force. The then DC KK Yadav had said that he would inaugurate it by himself even when the code was in force, but it somehow did not happen. Two days ago, the new DC Varinder Kumar Sharma and other officials took a round of the area and announced the unveiling plan.

The delay, however, has invited the wrath of Ambedkar followers. Said Balwinder Kumar Ambedkari, a BSP leader, “The delay on part of the administration to unveil the readied statue of Dr Ambedkar amounts to its dishonour. It is rather a lapse on part of those who kept looking for a suitable time for a politician to uncover it formally. Dr Ambedkar was a true nationalist. He never promoted any party. Thus, no political leader should have been allowed to draw mileage from such a solemn event.”