Hindustan Times (Chandigarh)

No state-level event this yr due to Covid

- HT Correspond­ent

SANGRUR : The district administra­tion has cancelled the statelevel function to be held to mark the 81th death anniversar­y of freedom fighter Shaheed Udham Singh in Sunam, his native town, on Friday (July 31), due to the covid-19 pandemic.

“The state level-event has been cancelled amid the pandemic. Individual­s, however, will be free to pay obeisance. I have announced July 31 as a holiday,” Sangrur deputy commission­er Ramvir told HT, adding that government establishm­ents and banks will remain closed.

Udham Singh killed General Michael O’ Dwyer, the former lieutenant governor of Punjab, who ordered the Jallianwal­a Bagh massacre of 1919, on March 13, 1940, in Caxton Hall London. The Ghadarite was hanged on July 31, 1940.

Despite 80 years of Udham Singh’s hanging and four years of announceme­nt, the constructi­on of his memorial is still pending in Sunam. On the eve of his 118th birth anniversar­y in 2016, Union food processing and industries minister Harsimrat

DESPITE 80 YEARS OF UDHAM SINGH’S HANGING AND 4 YEARS OF ANNOUNCEME­NT, THE CONSTRUCTI­ON OF HIS MEMORIAL IS STILL PENDING IN SUNAM

Kaur Badal had laid the foundation stone of the memorial, but nothing moved.

Last year, during the statelevel function, Punjab tourism and cultural affairs minister Charanjeet Singh Channi had claimed that the memorial will be built on four acre on Sunambathi­nda highway at a cost of Rs 2.6 crore.

 ??  ?? Mortal remains of Udham Singh kept at SUS Government College, Sunam.
Mortal remains of Udham Singh kept at SUS Government College, Sunam.

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