Udham Singh panel urges govt to build memorial

At Udham Singh’s ancestral house in Sunam.(Express Photo by Gurmeet Singh)

While his descendants quarrel for financial assistance and jobs, a committee formed to preserve the memory of martyr Udham Singh now wants the state government to keep its promise to honour the freedom fighter with a memorial.

Members of the Udham Singh Memorial Committee, which works for the upkeep of his ancestral house, claim that three years ago, Chief Minister Parkash Badal announced a memorial for the martyr to cost Rs 15 crore. They added that so far, the government hasn’t even picked a location for the project. “Though there is vacant land at the old sabzi mandi and along Bathinda road, the government wants a central location, which it has failed to finalise,” said Kesar Singh Dhott, the committee president. The site that the committee wants developed, however, is in dispute as part of it lies on gurdwara land.

Sunam’s residents also want the government to bring back the belongings of their most famous son. “We want all his belongings lying in London and Lahore to be brought back and placed in a common museum which should be built as part of a memorial,” said the ex-market committee chairman Pritpal Handa.