M A I N   N E W S

Rs 80-m facelift for Bhagat Singh’s house, school in Pak Punjab

Lahore, February 17
Freedom fighter Bhagat Singh's ancestral house, school and his village in Punjab Province of Pakistan will be restored under a Rs 80-million project.

"We have allocated Rs 80 million for restoration of the house and school of Independence war hero Bhagat Singh. The amount will also be spent for the uplift of Bhagat Singh’s village where clean drinking water is not available and drainage system is in bad shape,” Faisalabad district coordination officer Noorul Amin Mengal told PTI.

Mengal said people in Faisalabad “take pride in the fact that Bhagat Singh was the son of their soil” and want the place to be known as “the town of Bhaghat Singh”. The revolutionary was born on September 28, 1907 at Bangay village, Jaranwala tehsil in Faisalabad (then Lyallpur) district of the province.

Singh's village, Bangay, some 150 km from Lahore, would also become a tourist attraction for people, especially Indians, once his house is restored by this year end, he added. “His village is just 35 km from Nankana Sahib. It could be another point of attraction for the Sikh pilgrims,” he said.

The government also plans to shift Singh's belongings from Faisalabad Museum and Library to his house, he added. Bangay has a population of 5,000 people. Bhagat’s two-kanal house is owned by advocate Iqbal Virk.

"We will certainly buy the house from the advocate," Mengal said. On March 23, 1931, following his trial for involvement in the Lahore conspiracy case, the British government hanged the freedom fighter at Shadman Chowk, aged 23.

The Punjab government in Pakistan had decided to rechristen Fawara Chowk to Bhaghat Singh Chowk in October 2012. The plan, however, was put on hold after it drew objections from some quarters. — PTI

The martyr’s legacy

• Bhagat Singh was born on September 28, 1907 at Bangay village, Jaranwala tehsil in Pakistan’s Faisalabad (then Lyallpur) district
• His two-kanal house is currently owned by advocate Iqbal Virk and the authorities say they will try to buy it
• Besides restoring the house and school, the government plans to shift his belongings from Faisalabad Museum and Library to the house and promote it as a tourist attraction