This Amritsar locality’s most famous guests have been Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev who took shelter in Bara Makan lane in the house of freedom fighter Sohan Singh Josh in 1928 after shooting ASP of Lahore J.P. Saunders 

Don’t misconstrue this Islamabad with the capital city of Pakistan located in the Pothohar Plateu. Being a Muslim-dominated village of Amritsar, it was named Islamabad (The Abode of Islam) in the early 20th century.

However, after Partition, the Muslims living in this locality migrated to the newly-created Pakistan and the mosques and houses were left deserted.

In 1970, a magnificent mosque in the area was converted into Gurdwara Singh Sabha. Over the years, the houses were encroached upon by local residents.

Once a tiny village of the Majha region, Islamabad has now emerged as one of the most densly-populated localities of the Holy City.

This area is also replete with acts of courage and sacrifice during the nation’s freedom struggle.

That Islamabad, once surrounded by orchards and cultivated land, used to provide sanctuary to the freedom fighters was not widely known till now.

The locality’s most famous guests have been Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev who took shelter in a nondescript lane here known as “Bara Ghara” or “Bara Makan” (a cluster of dozen houses) after assassinating ASP of Lahore J.P. Saunders.

It was in the rented house of freedom fighter Sohan Singh Josh in Bara Ghara where both the young revolutionaries took shelter after the shooting dead the British police officer. The incident was later to be known as the Lahore Conspiracy Case. Apart from sheltering revolutionaries on the run, the Bara Makan or Bara Ghara was also headquarters of an underground monthly Punjabi magazine called “Kirti”.

Bhagat Singh too worked in the editorial board of the paper for three months. Veteran CPI leader Satya Pal Dang says it was a difficult task to print and distribute Kirti in those days.

We now return to history. Bhagat Singh had said that his real target was SSP of Lahore Scott. He was blamed for beating up Lala Lajpat Rai when the latter was protesting against the visit of the Simon Commission to Lahore on October 20, 1928. Lalaji later died of the injuries. It is said that the SSP beat up the aging leader for more than half an hour.

To avenge Lalaji’s death, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev and Chandrashekhar Azad along with others decided to kill Scott on December 15, 1928.

But they made a mistake that has now become historic. Instead of firing at Scoot, Rajguru shot at Saunders, mistaking the ASP to be the SSP. Bhagat Singh too pumped several bullets into the police officer’s body killing him on the spot. The body was taken to the Mayo Hospital.

As the duo started fleeing from the spot towards the DAV College, Traffic Inspector Fern and Head Constable Chanan Singh chased them. Bhagat Singh shot dead Chanan Singh too.

Later the duo arrived in Amritsar and took shelter Sohan Singh Josh’s house.

Three years later, on March 23, 1931, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged in the Central Jail of Lahore for killing the two policemen.

Amarjit Singh Asal, member of a Leftist union, took the Amritsar Plus team to the Bara Makan lane now under the shadow of tall buildings.

While portions of the two gates of Bara Makan lane are intact, the well from where the “fugitives of the British government” used to fetch water during their underground life has been filled with soil and a building constructed over it.

Eminent poet Dev Dard now owns the house where Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev stayed for a night after killing Saunders.

Dev Dard shows a 1914 map of Amritsar sketched on cloth by municipal engineer T.A. Miller Brownlit and another 1922 cloth map by municipal engineer K. Chand, where Islamabad is depicted as a village.

The lanes adjoining Bara Makan have now been named after freedom fighters: Gandhi Lane, Jawahar Gali, Tilak Gali and Lajpat Gali.

Dev Dard claims that freedom fighter Gurmukh Singh Musafir too used to stay in one of these lanes.

He rues that nobody as yet has thought of preserving the place related to one of the great historical event of the freedom struggle.

The Bara Makan (as per official records) had six houses on both sides of the lane. It was said to be perhaps the safest haven for revolutionaries because of its strategic location.

The lane (with a dozen houses) has big gates on both the ends that can be locked from both the sides.

Comrade Parduman Singh, a senior Communist leader and a companion of Sohan Singh Josh claimed that Josh would tell him that Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev had taken shelter in Bara Makan after killing Saunders. Giving a description of the old Islamabad village, he said the revolutionaries would use the area as a breathing space and decide on their next move. The lane of Bara Makan would also provide them a good chance of escaping possible police raids.

Dev Dard says there were only two cots in the house of Comrade Josh. “Sukhdev slept on the smaller cot; Bhagat Singh and Josh shared the bigger cot. They woke up a little before four in the morning to be ready to leave. They embraced each other and parted company. They did not indicate their destination before leaving Bara Makan.”

Dev Dard has preserved the room where Bhagat Singh and Sukhev took shelter.

In 1925, Comrade Josh associated himself with Kirti. The paper assumed the name of “Parbhat” in 1935. Josh was its editor and publisher.

freedom fighter Arjan Singh Gargajj in his autobiography “Mera Apna Aap” points out that the Kirti used to be published from Amritsar, despite threat to the lives of its editors including Josh. He also writes that Bhagat Singh worked in the editorial board of Kirti, published from Onkar Press in Outer Hall Gate.

In 1925, Bhagat Singh reached Lahore and along with his colleagues started the militant youth organisation called “Naujawan Bharat Sabha”.   

The next April, Bhagat Singh established contact with Sohan Singh Josh and the Workers and Peasants Party which was bringing out Kirti. Bhagat Singh worked with Josh for the paper.  

Dr Parmjit Singh Josh, the grandson of Comrade Josh says that Bhagat Singh remained in touch with his grandfather till he was arrested in connection with Lahore Conspiracy Case.

During this period, the Communist Party was a banned outfit. The Ghadar Party had commenced the publication of a Kirti in 1926. Sohan Singh Josh was the editor. It was this small stint at Kirti that is said to have changed Bhagat Singh’s perception.

Interactions with Sohan Singh Josh provided him the opportunity to acquire a scientific outlook and exchange views, even as he continued his activities in the “Hindustan Socialist Republican Army”.

During this short span, Bhagat Singh is said to have realised that the only path for emancipation and real freedom of the downtrodden lay in achieving the ultimate objective of socialism.

Bakhshish Singh, the martyr

Giving a firsthand account of giving shelter to Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev, Josh in his autobiography “My Tryst with Secularism” writes, “On December 17, in the afternoon, a British Officer was killed by some revolutionaries outside the Police Headquarters. By the evening, rumours were afloat all over Amritsar that either SSP Scott or Saunders have been killed along with an Indian who had kept on chasing the alleged assailants despite being warned”.

He adds, “On the same night, a little after 11 pm, somebody knocked at my door in Bara Ghara in Islamabad. I was all alone in the house, as my family had gone away to my village Chetanpura in Amritsar. I opened the door and to my utter surprise I found Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev standing there. I welcomed them in, but told them that it was rather risky on their part to have to come to my house because the police might raid it anytime. But Bhagat Singh said, “Don’t worry. We have made all arrangements”. They said they were hungry. “Give us something to eat.”

I could offer them only two chapatis, some vegitables and a glass of milk. I offered to cook something for them, but they said, “Nothing doing, we shall talk and sleep”.

Josh further writes, “Bhagat Singh was wearing a felt hat and an English-style suit. He was quiet unrecognisable in those clothes. Sukhdev was wearing an English hat and a suit. Bhagat Singh took off his hat and placed it on a table. He hung his pistol on a peg above the cot. Then, after finishing the meagre meal, the first question he shot at me was, “What is the reaction in general to Saunder’s murder?” Now I knew that it was Saunders who had been killed.

“The youth are happy”, I replied. “But they would have been happier if Scot had been killed.”

“We had gone there only for him (Scott), but other devil came out,” he (Bhagat Singh) said, “And we could not go empty-handed after all the pains we had taken for the preparation”. Then he added: “Anyway, some beginning has been made”.

According to Josh, Bhagat Singh also sought from him the feedback of the killing of Saundres. On the criticism of the followers of Mahatma Gandhi for indulging in violence, Bhagat Singh quiped, “We knew it beforehand. We have discussed before deciding upon this action”.

Then he added contemptuously: “Gandhi had stabbed the nation in the back by withdrawing the Non-Cooperation Movement.” However, during all this conversation, Sukhdev did not say a word.” 

Liberal Indian guidelines and the availability of state-of-the-art treatment could pave way for booming business of ‘reproductive tourism’, says Dr S.S Chawla, Director, Satjot Human Reproduction and Research Centre, here.

He says that reproductive procedure costs comparatively much lower than what it costs in the developed countries, while the quality is at par with what they provide if not superior. “It costs around Rs 60,000 to Rs one lakh in the northern states and about Rs two lakh in metropolitan-based clinics in the country, while the same operation costs Rs eight to ten lakh in the developed countries”, he says.

Two NRI patients from Canada, who have recently conceived through test tube baby and the ICSI procedures at the centre, expressed their complete satisfaction over the standards of facilities, cost  and no waiting period, Dr Chawla said.

Moreover,  they felt that counseling in their mother tongue played a significant role in coping up with the stress during their treatment. 
Dr Chawla said that the National Health Care System, all over the world, generally did not cover infertility. Insurance companies also exclude infertility component from their health care programmes. As a result,  in most western countries,  an  astonishingly low percentage of couples aspiring to have babies had access to high-tech procedures  like IVF and ICSI because of their high cost. For instance in the U.S.A. and Switzerland, there were only 104 and 135 per 10,000 couples  undergoing IVF cycles per year as against  Israel with a surprisingly high figure of 2000 due to  the government support to the IVF programme, he added.

Moreover, there was generally a large waiting period, which further worsens  the situation due to reproductive aging, as  the woman fertility potential declined sharply with advancing age, he said.

Dr Chawla further emphasises that it is even more logical for the NRIs settled in the West to prefer their native country for infertility treatment, especially, when  it comes to third party reproduction where donated sperm, oocyte and embryo are involved. “As the child develops some major physical features different from its parents, it  generally proves psychologically devastating both for the child and the parents. The very existence of such a child constantly reminds the couple  of their failure to produce a genetic child and they develop a permanent feeling of guilt,” he said.

The use of gametes of the parent country can probably best help  to bridge this gap.

In India, there are 500 clinics which can extend state-of-the-art treatment facilities and cater to the needs of their foreign patients. However, there is an urgent need for the regulations to maintain and check the minimum standards of these clinics so as to provide quality treatment to such  patients, Dr Chawla says. — OC

DAV College Managing Committee, New Delhi, has honoured Mr Dhani Ram, Principal, DAV College, for his outstanding contribution to Arya Samaj and his meritorious services in uplifting the standard of academics in the college. He was also conferred with the award of Best Principal-2006 by Ms Sheila Dixit, Chief Minister, New Delhi. He has been associated with the DAV institution for the past 38 years and serves as Principal S L Bawa DAV College, Batala and K R M DAV, College Nakodar. He was involving in many concerning development, academic, co-curricular and sports and was the member of academic group which visited Kenya and Ethopia for organising an educational conferences there.

An inspector of the Punjab Police brought laurels to the Holy City after he was decorated with the President’s Police Medal at Phillaur recently.

Mr Jasbir Singh, an Inspector in the Special Narcotics Cell, Amritsar, was decorated with the medal for distinguished service during a ceremony at the Punjab Police Academy, Phillaur, by Mr Surinder Singla, Finance Minister, Punjab.

Mr Jasbir Singh was earlier decorated with the President’s Police Medal on August 15, 1993 for his efforts in curbing militancy. — OC

With the introduction of new liquor policy from April 1, the city has witnessed the springing up of a large number of liquor vends. The residents are irked over the mushrooming of liquor vends at residential colonies.

Even the educational institutions and religious places are not spared, as new liquor kiosks have been set up near the sites throwing all norms to winds.

The Pink Plaza Market Association has strongly protested against the liqour vends being set up near the boundary wall of the century-old historic PBN Senior Secondary School outside hall gate and adjoining to the market.

The president of the association, Mr Baldev Singh, said that they had taken up the matter with the district administration and the police to immediately shift the kiosks in the interest of the residents of that area.

The residents of Gillwali Gate have also lodged a strong protest against the putting up of a similar kiosk in the vicinity of the area and resisted the vendors who were setting up the khoka.

The various NGOs’, including Citizens’ Forum led by Mr Brij Bedi, said that in the flagrant violations of the set norms, the liquor contractors had been putting up kiosks all over the city giving scant regard to the public sentiments.

He alleged the district administration was a mute spectator to the mushrooming growth of these newly-erected kiosks. He urged the government to review the entire vend policy.