Pakistan installs Hari Singh Nalwa bust at Kartarpur Corridor Art Gallery

PTC News Desk: The Pakistan government has allowed the installation of a bust of legendary Sikh general Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa at the Kartarpur Corridor Art Gallery, nearly three years after his statue was controversially removed from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The move has been widely welcomed by Sikh organisations worldwide as a positive step towards acknowledging Sikh history and heritage in the region.

The unveiling of the bust took place on February 1, a development announced by Sikhs in America president Gurinder Singh Josan through a social media post. Calling it a “historic moment”, Josan said the gesture could mark the beginning of a new era of recognition and respect for Sikh contributions in areas that were once part of the Sikh Empire.

Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa (1791–1837) was one of the most formidable generals of the Sikh Empire under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He played a crucial role in securing the north-western frontiers of the Khalsa Kingdom and served as governor of Kashmir, Peshawar and Hazara. Nalwa is credited with halting repeated Afghan invasions and extending Sikh rule up to the Khyber Pass for the first time in history, cementing his legacy as a towering figure in Sikh military and administrative history.

The significance of the Kartarpur installation is underscored by events in 2022, when Pakistani authorities removed an eight-foot-tall metal statue of Hari Singh Nalwa from Siddiqi-i-Akbar Chowk in Haripur district — a district named after the Sikh general. The statue, installed as part of a city beautification project, was removed following objections from certain religious groups. Videos of the removal went viral, drawing strong condemnation from Sikh bodies including the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and the Chief Khalsa Diwan, which described the act as an erasure of history.