Punjab MLAs all set for the Andamans, third time in 3 months
Two committees of the Punjab assembly have already visited the Andaman and Nicobar islands in the last two months. The first committee went in October this year to study its local government model and the second went to study the welfare of the Dalits.
A group of legislators from Punjab will soon visit the Andaman and Nicobar islands to find out why the role of freedom fighters from the state, who were lodged in Port Blair’s Cellular Jail used by the British to exile political prisoners, was being overlooked.
A special committee of House members is slated to set off for the Andamans under MLA Harpartap Ajnala. The date of the visit is yet to be decided. Two committees of the Punjab assembly have already visited the islands in the last two months. The first committee went in October this year to study its local government model and the second went to study the welfare of the Dalits.
An eight-member entourage of local bodies committee of Punjab assembly went on a weeklong trip in October to the Andamans and raised a bill of ₹3 lakh. Led by Ajnala, it also comprised jails minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and AAP MLAs, Baljinder Kaur and Jagtar Singh.
In November, four MLAs comprising the Dalit welfare committee headed by Nathu Ram visited the Andamans for which the state footed a bill of ₹2.5 lakh.
Punjab assembly speaker Rana KP Singh said the Ajnala committee will prepare a report on inmates from Punjab in the colonial prison and how their contribution to the country’s freedom struggle was being overlooked.
“The light and sound show held every evening near the Cellular Jail highlights the role of Bengali revolutionaries (such as Batukeshwar Dutt, Subodh Roy and Barindra Ghose) but does not mention freedom fighters from Punjab. The national museum too has pictures of freedom fighters from Bengal while those of Punjab martyrs have been removed. The Port Blair airport is named after Veer Savarkar (a Marathi),” Singh said.
“Based on the committee’s report, the Punjab assembly will pass a resolution asking the Centre to give due recognition to Punjab’s heroes,” he said.
In May last year, a delegation of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) had also submitted an inquiry report, saying the contribution of Sikhs to the freedom struggle is being ‘undermined’ in the Andamans.
The report had claimed that names of Sikh martyrs and Punjabis imprinted on stones were lower than the actual number and pictures of Sikh freedom fighters were removed in the name of repair and not hanged again.
It had also met the then lieutenant governor Jagdish Mukhi to request that three roads in Port Blair should be named after Bhagat Singh, Dr Diwan Singh Kalepani and Madan Lal Dhingra.
The SGPC also said the number of Sikh revolutionaries sent to the gallows or imprisoned in Cellular Jail was more than the Bengalis. Akali Dal MP Prem Singh Chandumajra had also raised the issue in Parliament, asking the Centre to revisit the light and sound show.
