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Udham Singh's portrait unveiled

By Our Staff Correspondent

CHANDIGARH Sept 23: A portrait of Shaheed Udham Singh was installed in the main lobby of the Punjab Assembly here today. Unveiling the portrait, the Chief Minister, Capt. Amarinder Singh expressed regrets that the great hero of the freedom struggle had not been bestowed the honour he deserved. He went on to suggest installation of a plaque with names inscribed of those who had suffered incarceration in the cellular jail in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, then referred to as "Kala Pani''(dark waters).

Addressing the `Sanman Samaroh' in the Assembly in honour of freedom fighters who were later elected as legislators, the Chief Minister stressed the need to introduce the future generations to the events and sacrifices made during the freedom struggle to imbibe the feelings of nationalism, communal harmony and universal brotherhood.

Capt. Singh also announced that the ancestral house at Sunam of Shaheed Udham Singh, who avenged the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by killing Sir Michael O'Dwyer in March 1940, would be developed as a museum on the pattern of Khatkar Kalan, the native village of Shaheed Bhagat Singh.

The Chief Minister said a committee led by the Finance Minister, Lal Singh, would soon go to London to negotiate with the British Government to bring back the personal belongings of Shaheed Udham Singh including a revolver, a few currency notes, clothes and books.

Capt. Singh also launched a website -- www.punjabassembly.nic.in -- to enable the people to have relevant information pertaining to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. Rajya Sabha MP and film actor Raj Babbar was honoured for making a film on the life of Shaheed Udham Singh.

In his address, the Speaker of the Punjab Assembly, Kewal Krishan, said that it was far more important to preserve the hard-earned freedom as we had achieved it after a long saga of trials and tribulations.

Mr. Raj Babbar said that "90 per cent of the sacrifices during the freedom struggle had been made by the Punjabis alone" and underlined the need to highlight this aspect through cinema and television.

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