Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday offered all support and cooperation to Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation (BSMF) striving to convert the house where the freedom fighter was born into a world-class memorial.
Bhagat Singh was born at Banga in Pakistan’s Faisalabad district.
This assurance was given by Mr. Badal to the visiting delegation of BSMF led by its chairman Imtiaz Rashid Qureshi from Lahore, which called on him at Punjab Bhawan here, an official spokesman said.
The Chief Minister assured Mr. Qureshi that the Punjab government would bear the entire expenditure for the purchase of Bhagat Singh’s house in village Banga, where he was born, to develop it as one of the finest monument to perpetuate his glorious legacy across the globe.
He reiterated that this move would certainly prove to be a milestone in sensitising and keeping our youngsters abreast with the ideology of an iconic freedom fighter, who was equally revered both in India and Pakistan.
Mr Badal said that the State government would extend all possible help to develop this magnificent memorial at Bhagat Singh’s birthplace as a befitting tribute to this great son of the soil.
Enthused by the goodwill gesture and positive response from the Chief Minister, Mr. Qureshi expressed his gratitude to him saying that Bhagat Singh was one of the tallest heroes and would be ever remembered by one and all for times to come.
He said Bhagat Singh’s legacy should not only be restricted to India and Pakistan but across the world in general and particularly in the Indian subcontinent.
Mr.Qureshi also hoped that this initiative would further strengthen the bonds of love, goodwill and friendship between the people of both these countries.
He apprised the Chief Minister that the foundation was pro-actively engaged in disseminating the life, philosophy and works of the great revolutionary Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh by organising seminars, symposiums and panel discussions regularly on different occasions.
He also informed Mr. Badal that Shadman Chowk in Lahore has been renamed as Bhagat Singh Chowk in remembrance of the legendary hero’s supreme sacrifice with concerted efforts of the foundation. He told Mr.Badal that the foundation has filed a writ petition in the Lahore High Court to reopen the trial case of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh to bring facts on the fore, which led to his execution along with Rajguru and Sukhdev in Lahore jail in 1931.
(PTI inputs)
