The building that served as a hideout of the Krantikari Party and used by Bhagat Singh to make bombs…
Today is the day when a Great revolutionary had taken birth on the pure earth of Punjab. Despite a protected monument notification being issued in December, 2015 there has been no effort on part of the government to give freedom fighter Bhagat Singh’s secret hideout, located in this city, the status of a monument and convert it into a museum.
Every year the demand to convert the place into a museum is raised by followers of Bhagat Singh on March 23, the day the freedom fighter was hanged, and on September 28, on his birthday. Bhagat Singh was only 23 when he along with Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged by the British in 1931.
The building that served as a hideout of the Krantikari Party and used by Bhagat Singh to make bombs and evolve strategies against the oppressive British rule, is situated at Toori Bazar. Presently, the building is under control of the Krishna Bhakti Satsang trust.
After the notification, the present occupants of the building cannot alter the structure or sell it. A proposal to relocate the ground floor shop and the family living there was initiated but nothing happened.
Rakesh Kumar, author of number of books on revolutionaries who sacrificed their lives in the freedom struggle, had taken up the matter with the district administration and state government for converting the building into museum. Kumar says the building was taken on rent by Dr Gaya Pashad under the fake name of Dr BS Nigam to run a pharmacy shop in 1928-29.
He said the building was used by Bhagat, Rajguru and Sukhdev from August 10, 1928 to February 4, 1929 and when British officials came to know about it, 21 witnesses, including 19 from Ferozepur, were presented in a court to prove that it was a ‘shelter house’ used by freedom fighters.
The pistol used by Bhagat to kill British officer John Saunders in 1928 is kept in the BSF Museum at the Indo-Pak Joint Check Post at Hussainiwala.
“The freedom fighters memorial at Hussainiwala needs to be developed so that the coming generations know about the sacrifices made by Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev for the freedom of the country,” said Rakesh Kumar.