Pak based foundation demand National Hero status for Dulla Bhatti

ACROSS THE BORDER : Pak based foundation demand National Hero status for Dulla Bhatti

Ferozepur, January 13, 2020:  When singing the famous Lohri song, “Sundar mundariye, hoe! Tera kaun wichara, hoe! Dulla Bhatti walla, hoe! Dulle di dhee vyayee, hoe! Ser shakkar payee…!”, one must have encountered the word ‘Dulla Bhatti’.  On the eve of Lohri celebrataions, a all religion sabha was held at the grave of Dulla Bhatti organized by Chairman, Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation, Imtiaz Rashid Qureshi, to give a message of communal harmony by remembering him.

Dulla Bhatti is revered as the ‘Son of Punjab’ for his unparalleled bravery. Legend goes that the rebel chieftain saved two Brahmin girls from the emperor and married them off on the day of the winter festival.

Qureshi  in his message said, in pre-partition Punjab, Dulla Bhatti emerged as the ultimate symbol of the Punjabi culture – a Muslim landlord who fought for the honour of Brahmin girls, saving them from the Mughal emperor.  He gave an equal status to the poor and women community but it is very unfortunate that now the Pakistan government has forgotten him.

He demanded that the Pakistan government should declare holiday on Lohri from next year, one of the roads may be named after him besides making the history of Dulla Bhatti as part of syllabus in schools.

Surrounded by thousands of others, there is nothing remarkable about the grave of Dulla Bhatti, on a raised platform, plastered with cement under the shade of an old tree. There is no mark on the grave but a board next to it identifies its occupant. Occasionally, an odd visitor brings flowers or places a new chadar on it.

The grave is situated in the historical graveyard of Miani Sahib in Lahore, the city to which Akbar moved his capital from Fatehpur Sikri during the peak of Dulla Bhatti’s rebellion against him.