Now, historical Clock Tower in Gorakhpur painted saffron
GORAKHPUR: After the chief minister’s secretariat in Lucknow, the historical Clock Tower in Yogi Adityanath’s hometown Gorakhpur has been painted saffron.
The clock tower was constructed by social activists Seth Ram Khelawan and Thakur Prasad in 1930 in memory of freedom fighter Ram Prasad Bismil. The tower that stands in the busy Sarrafa Market was painted yellow four years ago.
Though several city residents said it was wrong to paint a building in a colour associated with any party, officials claimed the decision was taken unanimously by GMC. “The decision to paint the clock tower saffron was taken unanimously by Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation authorities. ‘There was no government order on painting the building in the particular colour,” DK Sinha, additional municipal commissioner, said. Earlier, the CM’s secretariat was also given a saffron touch. While the exteriors of the building were painted saffron, the decorative designs on the white boundary wall also got a saffron finish.
Over half-a-dozen labourers worked tirelessly to paint the 20-feet high clock tower located next to the famous Jama Masjid in Urdu Bazaar.
Sources at the GMC said ₹57,000 was spent in painting of the tower. According to officials at Gorakhpur chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage , freedom fighters, including Ali Hasan, were hanged from a tree on August 29, 1859, at the spot where the clock tower stands today. Freedom fighter Ram Prasad Bismil, who conceived the Kakori case in 1925, was hanged in Gorakhpur jail on December 16, 1927, after which his body was kept at the spot where people paid their last respects to him.