Imphal (PTI): Ace boxer Mary Kom's husband Onler Karong has sparked a controversy after he expressed dissatisfaction over the looks of a statue of his wife, which was recently erected at a park near here.
Nineteen statues of the state's Olympians, including that of Mary Kom, were recently installed at Manipur Olympic Park.
Onler Karong, in an interview with a local newspaper, claimed that the statue, which was erected at the Park, does not look like his wife, six times World Women's Boxing Champion and 2012 London Olympic bronze medalist.
Neither Onler Karong nor Mary Kom could be contacted despite repeated efforts.
However, while talking to PTI, Kom’s brother Jimmy Kom claimed that the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) assured him that the statue will be replaced before the inauguration of the park, the date of which is yet to be fixed.
When contacted, officials of the CMO told PTI that they will not speak about the issue. "It is his (Onler) personal opinion," Jimmy said.
Jimmy said his sister returned home from a tour and got to know about the development only on Wednesday, he said.
"There is a concern that Onler's statement might be misinterpreted as the statues were installed to honour our state's athletes," Jimmy said.
Two days back, before the matter came to the fore, Chief Minister N Biren Singh had on his official Facebook page said that the Park "is all set for inauguration. Everyone can now witness the statues of our legendary Olympians, the pride of our Nation."
"The Manipur Olympian Park was constructed in honour of our Olympians from Manipur who have brought laurels for the Nation. Not only will this place become a major tourist attraction but also inspire the youths to achieve greater heights in life," Singh had said in a separate post.
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SGPC writes to Mann, seeks ban on 'Emergency' in Punjab a day before release
Amritsar, Jan 16 (PTI): The SGPC on Thursday wrote to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, seeking a ban on the release of Kangana Ranaut's movie 'Emergency' saying it "tarnishes" the image of Sikhs and "misrepresents" history.
Actor and BJP MP Ranaut's 'Emergency' is slated to release in cinemas on January 17.
In the letter to Mann, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Harjinder Singh Dhami expressed strong objection to Ranaut's film.
Dhami said that if the film is released in Punjab, it will spark "outrage and anger" in the Sikh community and therefore it is the responsibility of the government to ban its release in the state.
The SGPC, an apex gurdwara body, had earlier also protested the film.
"It has come to our attention that the movie 'Emergency' produced by BJP MP Kangana Ranaut is going to be released on 17th January 2025 in cinemas in different cities of Punjab and the tickets have also started to be booked," its letter to Mann read.
Dhami said the SGPC had also protested the release of the movie in a letter to the Punjab Chief Secretary on November 14 last year.
"But it is sad that the Punjab government has not taken any step till now. If this film is released on January 17, 2025, then it is natural to create outrage and anger in the Sikh world," the current letter read.
Dhami said the SGPC will submit a letter also to all the deputy commissioners in Punjab, seeking a ban on the film in the state.
The SGPC denounced the "character assassination" of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the Khalistani militant killed in 1984 in a military operation.
"If this film is released in Punjab, we will be forced to strongly oppose it at the state level," Dhami said.
In August last year, the SGPC sent a legal notice to the producers of the 'Emergency' film, alleging that it "misrepresented" the character and history of Sikhs, and asked them to remove the objectionable scenes depicting "anti-Sikh" sentiments.
In the notice, the producers of the film, including Kangana Ranaut, were asked to remove the trailer released on August 14 from all public and social media platforms and tender a written apology to the Sikh community.
The SGPC objected to film writing separate letters to the Minister of Information and Broadcasting and the Central Board of Film Certification.
