Freedom fighters keep out of Jogi martyr bhawan

‘‘Till now, we have lived with dignity and want to die with respect. At least, they (the government) should not rub salt on our scars,’’ an angry Tripathi told The Indian Express from Mahasaund.

Justifying the decision to inaugurate the Bhawan, the Mayor said: ‘‘How could we wait endlessly for confirmation from President Kalam. The building was finished almost two years ago. I discussed the issue with the CM and he asked to fix the function for August 13.’’

The chief patron of the Bhawan project, Kalam Narain Sharma, who died in June last year, was opposed to the mayor’s decision of getting the building inaugurated without Kalam. In order to honour Sharma’s last wish, a delegation of freedom fighters had recently visited Delhi and contacted Rashtrapati Bhawan for fixing a date for the ceremony. ‘‘The President had confirmed his availability in November 2003,’’ Tripathy said. ‘‘Had Sharma been alive today, he would have sat on a hunger strike to oppose the ceremony,’’ said a Raipur Municipal Corporation official. Sharma wanted the complex to be inaugurated by Kalam or Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s younger brother Kultar Singh.

Records reveal that the first invitation to the President was sent immediately after the formation of the state in November 2000. Later, few freedom fighters also tried to get PM Vajpayee to inaugurate the complex in 2001. In 2002, the President of India was again approached.