Jinnah Tower gets tricolour coat.  |  Photo Credit: IANS
Key Highlights
- The Jinnah Tower in Guntur was painted in tricolour
- BJP leaders have been demanding that the Jinnah Tower be renamed
- The Jinnah Tower in Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur is named after Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Amaravati: A day after the Jinnah Tower in Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur was painted in the national tricolour of Saffron, White and Green, the Indian national flag will be installed at the Tower on Thursday. An iron fencing was also erected around the tower by the Guntur Municipal Corporation to prevent untoward incidents. Of late, a huge controversy has erupted over the iconic tower being named in honour of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan.
In an apparent bid to end the row over the heritage structure’s name, the Guntur Municipal Corporation painted the tower in the colours of the Indian flag. Guntur Mayor Kavati Manohar Naidu and MLC L Appi Reddy confirmed on Wednesday that a national flag will be hoisted installed at the tower on February 3.
Naidu and Reddy, however, claimed that the Jinnar tower will not be renamed, as demanded b the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“This is a tower of harmony and dates back to the pre-Independence era. This has been a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity in the city,” they said.
The Andhra Pradesh BJP leaders have been vociferously demanding the renaming of the landmark structure.
On January 26, Republic Day, a group of people tried to reach the Jinnah tower and unfurl the national flag atop it. The police apprehended at least three youths belonging to the Hindu Vahini who tried to hoist the Tricolour on the structure.
Prior to painting the tower in the national tricolour, the Guntur Municipal Corporation held a meeting with the Muslim leaders, including MLAs Mohammad Mustafa and M Giridhar to convince them of the need for painting the tower in the tricolour.