Of trio,no effort to preserve Sukhdev’s memory: Family

The official dispensation was conspicuous by its absence with not a member of the district administration,state government or even the local corporation present at the function. The house itself has been locked since January 16,2012,on the orders of Punjab and Haryana High Court. It is in poor state and the only memory of Sukhdev is a fan,which he apparently used when he lived here.

The situation is nothing new for the family members,who say that they don’t receive a single phone call from the government even on Sukhdev’s birth and death anniversaries. On Friday,Ashok Thapar and Sandeep Thapar (distant family members of Sukhdev),president and general secretary of the Trust used their invitation to a Rashtrapati Bhavan function,honouring Rajguru,to submit a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee citing a list of long pending demands. The family in its memorandum wants the government to unlock the house and turn it into a museum with belongings of Sukhdev,which they want brought back from Lahore. They have also asked for a train from Ludhiana to New Delhi to be named after Sukhdev and a full profile of all three martyrs in school syllabus. “Only Bhagat Singh’s statue has been installed in the Parliament. We have asked for statues of all three,” said Tribhuvan Thapar,press secretary of the Trust and a descendant of the martyr (Sukhdev was his grandfather’s uncle). “ The world knows the three martyrs as one but the government has remained indifferent towards Sukhdev. Forget a museum,they have not even allowed us to unlock his home and get it cleaned. No chief minister,commissioner or even the area SHO has visited here once. We are just thankful to the safai karamcharis who visit here on May 15 and March 23 to clean the outer area,where we perform havan,” Thapar added.

According to his family,Sukhdev lived here till he was 5-6 years old before his family moved to Lahore. The house had been rented by another family with the Trust gaining possession of it in 2007. “In 1982-83 some people tried to pave a way to Sukhdev’s home but were not successful. In 1995,after a writ petition was filed,the High Court ordered the government to undertake Sukhdev’s home and maintain it. We got a letter from Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 2009 asking for our permission and we replied that Trust is already taking care of home and planning to turn it in museum but deputy commissioner Rahul Tewari sent 500 police personnel to lock the home on January 16,2012,and it has remained that way since,” Thapar said.

He added that although the Trust was formed way back in the 60’s it was registered only in 2002. “People started misusing Sukhdev’s name and collecting funds. Just to make it clear that there is only one Trust,which never asks for funds,we got it registered,” Thapar said.

He further said that the government’s decision to lock the house has left many visitors disappointed. “Last year some people from Gujarat came here but had to be content with only looking at it from outside. Earlier we also invited school kids on educational trips but now its all locked,” he added. Despite attempts to contact him,Ludhiana DC Rahul Tewari was not available for comments.