Shaheed Udham Singh’s 77th Martyrdom Day celebrated in Ferozepur
Ferozepur, July 31, 2017: Like previous years, this year also, Shaheed Udham Singh’s 77th Martyrdom Day was celebrated in border town Ferozepur with great reverence and respect at Shaheed Udham Singh Bhawan.
Udham Singh had avenged the massacre of hundreds of people in Jallianwala Bagh on April 13, 1919 by General Reginald Edward Harry Dyer by killing Michael O’Dwyer, who was the Governor of Punjab when the massacre took place, in London 21 years later. Charged with murder, he was hanged to death in 1940 in a prison in London.
Singh was convicted and sentenced to death. On 31 July 1940, Singh was hanged at Pentonville Prison . The remains have still been preserved at the Jallianwala Bhag in Amritsar, Punjab.
The martyrdom day was celebrated with bhog of Sri Akhand Path Sahib followed by kirtan darbar with patriotic, traditional and inspirational songs by Dhadi Jatha of Bhai Bohar Singh Br eke, Bhai Nirmal Singh Boor Lohia.
Later, after paying floral tributes at the statue of Singh, motorcycle rally by hundreds of youths was organized in the city to create awareness among the people about the sacrifice of Udham Singh for the freedom of India.
Talking to media persons, Bhagwan Singh Sama Noopur, President, Shaheed Udham Singh Memorial Society said,
He said, it is 80 years on, Udham Singh’s role in the independence struggle may be much broader than what has been acknowledged.
He further said, the government should compile the history of all martyrs who have contributed for the freedom of India as iconic revolutionaries and pass it on to the youths so that they could get inspiration from their life to ignite the feeling of security and devotion towards society and nation.
Interestingly, the man’s life may be an inspiration for not just nationalists but also — surprisingly — secularists. Perhaps the best illustration for this is the name by which he preferred to be known — Mohammed Singh Azad, which was tattooed on his arm, as a symbol of the unification of India’s major religions against British rule.
Sama Noorpur said, it is very unfortunate that Udham Singh who sacrifice his life for the sake of taking revenge of the massacre at Jallianwala Bagh have not been declared as shaheed – martyr. He appealed to the social organizations to put a demand before the government to give Udham Singh the status of national martyr.
