Punjab Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs minister Mr Bharat Bhushan Ashu today paid floral tributes to Shaheed Karnail Singh Issru during a brief but impressive function held at Issru village of the district. He was also accompanied by Khanna MLA Mr Gurkirat Singh Kotli, Payal MLA Mr Lakhbir Singh Lakha, Deputy Commissioner Mr Varinder Kumar Sharma, besides several others.The leaders garlanded the statue of Shaheed Karnail Singh Issru installed in the village. Mrs Charanjit Kaur, wife of Shaheed Karnail Singh Issru was also honoured on the occasion. They also planted tree saplings near the statue of this great freedom fighter.While speaking to mediapersons on the martyrdom day of great revolutionary Shaheed Karnail Singh Issru, who laid down his life during the liberation of Goa from Portuguese regime, here today at his native village, the Minister said that we Punjabis inherited the spirit of sacrifice from the great Sikh Gurus especially Sri Guru Arjun Dev ji and Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Ji who made supreme sacrifice against the tyranny unleashed by the Mughals, for the sake of humanity.He said that this legacy of self-sacrifice perpetuated from one generation to other and was one of the major force behind Punjab’s great contribution in the national freedom struggle. He further said that it was on record that Punjabis despite having two per cent of country’s total population had made huge sacrifices in terms of life imprisonment, capital punishment and even exile in captivity (Kalepaani).
He said that the enormous contribution of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Udham Singh, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Lala Lajpat Rai, Sohan Singh Bhakna and several others would continue to inspire our younger generations besides imbibing the spirit of patriotism amongst them.He said each year, a state-level function is organised by the Punjab government on this day, but due to Covid 19 pandemic and as per the guidelines of Punjab government and health department, a brief function was organised today. He said that there is no shortage of funds for the ancestral village of Shaheed Karnail Singh Issru, and promised that whenever MLA Mr Gurkirat Singh Kotli or village Panchayat wants to carry out some development project, he would allocate funds from his discretionary quota for the development of Issru village.Prominent among those present on the occasion included SDM Khanna Mr Sandeep Singh, SSP Khanna Mr Harpreet Singh, Zila Parishad Chairman Mr Yadwinder Singh Jandiali, Chairman Market Committee Khanna Mr Gurdeep Singh Rasulra, former president Nagar Council Khanna Mr Vikas Mehta, District Youth Congress leader Mr Amit Tiwari, block president Mr Jatinder Pathak, Chairman Block Samiti Khanna Mr Satnam Singh Soni, President Arhtiya Association Khanna Mr Harbans Singh Rosha, Issru village Sarpanch Mr Gurwinder Singh, besides several others.