Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said that in order to showcase the supreme sacrifices of the Punjabis in the Indian freedom struggle, the state government would soon start the work on the construction of Jang-e-Azaadi memorial at Kartarpur.
The Chief Minister who visited the site of the proposed memorial in the morning here today, also held a meeting with the key officials to expedite the process of starting the work on this ambitious project. During the deliberations Badal was apprised that as per his directions the 25 acres of land belonging to the state government has been transferred to the Tourism and Culture department for the construction of the memorial.The Chief Minister said that the work on this world class memorial which would help inperpetuating the rich cultural heritage of the state amongst the coming generations would start soon as the state government was on the verge of finalizing the necessary formalities for it. He said that this state of art memorial to be constructed at a cost of Rs 100 crore would be a humble but befitting tribute from the state government to the great heroes and martyrs from all over the country, who had laid down their lives to free our motherland from the yoke of British imperialism.Badal said that the site of the memorial has been carefully selected by the state government as it lies on the National highway number one, which would facilitate the people across the border to visit the memorial and pay homage to the freedom fighters. He said that this memorial would prove to be a source of inspiration for the coming generations besides being a major catalyst in inculcating the values of patriotism and nationalism in them The Chief Minister further said that he along with the other members of the concept committee constituted for the memorial, had recently visited Cellular Jail at Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Sabarmati Ashram at Ahmadabad, famous Akshardham Temple at Gandhinagar in Gujarat, ‘Teen Murti Bhawan’ and the hi-tech museum showcasing significant aspects related to the National freedom struggle in Parliament house at New Delhi for seeking vital inputs and information for the finalization of the concept and design of this state of the art memorial.
Prominent amongst those present on the occasion included Chief Editor of the Ajit Group of Newspapers and the Member Secretary of Jang-e-Azaadi foundation Dr Barjinder Singh Hamdard, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister SK Sandhu, Special Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, Deputy Commissioner Priyank Bharti and Chairman of District Planning Committee Gurcharan Singh Channi.