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Martyr Sukhdev took first lessons of patriotism while playing in the streets of Nau Ghara area in Ludhiana, where he was born and brought up, and finally kissed the gallows for the sake of the country along with Bhagat Singh and Rajguru on March 23, 1931. But the great martyr’s house, that could have been a befitting memorial commemorating his sacrifice, was treated badly by not only the successive state governments but the Ludhiana administration also. It had been lying in a dilapidated state and the representatives of various governments did not do anything except for lip service and false promises. After 76 years of this martyr’s sacrifice, the house stands as a testimony to the lackadaisical attitude of people in power and needs immediate attention. Though relatives of Sukhdev had agreed in principle to donate the house for preserving it as a memorial, they rue that nobody bothered to pay attention to it. ‘’They make plans and announce but none mooted by the government has seen the light of the day. We are disgusted and stopped saying anything , said Mr Bharat Bhushan, a nephew of the martyr, whose father once lived with the former in a joint family in the Nau Ghara house. Had it not been for an NGO—-Shaheed Sukhdev Yadgar Committee, Ludhiana—-which had constructed the front portion of the house without any assistance from any government agency, the house would have crumbled. The NGO preserved the outer portion of the house and also put up a bust of the martyr outside but could not do anything for the inner side as it has been occupied by a tenant family for years together. Unfortunately, neither the government machinery could get the house vacated from the family due to lack of seriousness towards the purpose, nor has the occupying family showed any respect towards various pleas to vacate the house of the martyr, who sacrificed his life for his countrymen. Some years ago, Raj Babbar, a Bollywood actor, came to the city and raised a lot of hue and cry that the martyr’s sacrifice was not remembered as his house was in state of utter neglect. He had promised some money for the preservation of the house which is yet to arrive. The district administration had also mooted various proposals to preserve the memorial during the last many years. Unfortunately, none of them could make the preservation work possible. Till some years ago, the house remained unknown to anybody. It was then that the Thapars of the city set up a trust named Shaheed Sukhdev Thapar Memorial Trust (SSTMT) to look after the historical place and to create awareness among people about the great martyr.
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