Activists decry razing of peace memorial at Attari by NHAI
AMRITSAR: Peace activists are angry over the demolition of ‘India-pakistan Friendship Memorial’ by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) at the Attari-wagah border.
Erected in 1996 in memory of those who lost their lives during the Partition, the memorial was brought down as the area is being given a facelift.
Every year on the eve of Independence Day of India, members of the Hind-pak Dosti Manch, Folklore Research Academy (FRA) and Punjab Jagriti Manch, Jalandhar, would carry out a symbolic peace march from Jallianwala Bagh up to the JCP and pay tributes to the victims of the Partition. This year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the permission for the march was not given. The news of demolition of the memorial came to the fore on August 15 when a few activists went to the border.
“We condemn the action of the NHAI to demolish the structure, that too without our knowledge,” said Ramesh Yadav, president of the FRA. He said, “The memorial had historic importance. It was inaugurated by Left leader late Harkishan Singh Surjeet. There were two plaques on the memorial on which poems of Amrita Pritam and Faiz Ahmed Faiz, describing the pain of Partition, were inscribed. Water from five rivers was sprinkled while laying its foundation stone.”
He said development works are important, but the memorial could have been relocated.
General secretary of Hind-pak Dosti Manch Satnam Singh Manak said sentiments of millions of people were attached with the memorial. “At least the organisations which erected it should have been informed,” he said.
BSF’S deputy inspector general (DIG) BS Rawat said, “The structure was removed by the NHAI. A new memorial will be erected.”
Additional deputy commissioner (general) Himanshu Aggarwal said the matter was not in his notice. NHAI’S regional project director could not be contacted.