DECLARE BHAGAT SINGH’S ‘dilapidated hideout’ into “national monument”: NGOs

Ferozepur, March 22, 2013: The Ferozepur situated on Indo-Pak international border, just at a distance of 9 KMs, was once a hideout place for Bhagat Singh, a revolutionary, who contributed to the unity of the country and was only 23 when he went to the gallows fighting against the British rulers.

Inder Singh Gogia, President, Ferozepur District NGOs Coordination Committee, Ferozepur Unit, has demanded from the Punjab Government, for raising a big monument to patriots, the small hideout of Bhagat Singh at Toori Bazar, in Ferozpur City , which has not grabbed anybody’s attention. The hide-out the double-floor house at Toori Bazaar,  is in ruins for decades now which was once a laboratory where Bhagat Singh and other revolutionary fighters made bombs and plans against the British.

Gogia added, “In fact, the two events will continue to etch the minds of elderly people of the country when 82 years ago hanging of Bhagat Singh on March 23 and the Jallianwala Bagh tagedy on April 13 where General E.H.Dyre ordered the killing of peaceful protestors, Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims including women and children and about 1500 people were killed. The government pays only lip sympathy to the pre-Partition icons.

Now the question is as to how to evoke the same sentiments among the younger generation is the problem?”.

The first floor once belonged to Gaya Parshad, an associate of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh and on the floor above was the bomb factory.  In fact, none of the government has thought to look into this corner of history.  Gajjanand, a barber sitting opposite, trimmed the hair of Bhagat Singh for his new getup to fox the police after he had shot John Saunders, a British police office, to avenge the killing of Lala Lajpat Rai.  Presently, the dilapidated building continues to be with the trust and a family holds the upper floor. Two shops on the ground floor are with a trader and another belongs to a financier.

Sometime back, the then deputy commissioner, Ferozepur Kulbir Singh Sidhu had opened a campaign to get historical building in the district due recognition. A team of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and Surinder Pal Singh, director of National Museum also visited the site and met the trustees, who gave their consent, about the transfer of the building to the government, if it was turned into a national monument.

The NGOs of the district are disappointed over not giving the status of heritage to the house and convert it into a monument which is uncared for so far.