Flirting with history at Khatkar Kalan

Vishav Bharti in Khatkar Kalan

In the land of ‘rang de basanti’ and ‘pagdi sambhal jatta’, the romance of history is losing out to flirtatious overtures of bling politics. On February 23, 2009, then Union Home Minister P Chidambaram laid the stone for Shaheed Bhagat Memorial at Khatkar Kalan (Nawanshahr). In February 2014, a similar announcement came from the Pakistan government to preserve Bhagat Singh’s birthplace at Chak No. 105 GB (now Bangay village) in Lyallpur. On March 23 this year, the Lyallpur house was opened to public. 

At Khatkar Kalan, the foundation stone is surrounded by weeds and construction material; the memorial lies abandoned. The latest is the contractor stopped work six months back. The Khatkar Kalan memorial was to be built in around 10 acres. It was not only to commemorate Shaheed Bhagat Singh, but also his comrades Rajguru, Sukhdev and other martyrs from Punjab. It was to have a modern museum & auditorium, a house video development programme, a library and hostel for research scholars. The original cost of around Rs 8 crore has escalated to over Rs 18 crore.

Bhagat Singh’s nephew, Prof Jagmohan Singh, doubts if the project would ever be a reality. “It was a unique idea to build a freedom struggle memorial with focus on Bhagat Singh. The entire funding was to come from Centre; the state government was to execute the work,” says Prof Singh.

He alleges the same inaction and corruption were visible during Bhagat Singh’s centenary and other celebrations associated with him and other freedom fighters. “But the government claims it has spent Rs 100 crore on memorials,” he says. Navjot Pal Singh Randhawa, director, Archaeology and Museums Department, Punjab, says the Khatkar Kalan project will be completed “very soon”. “We have held a review meeting.” 

Kulwinder Singh, a teacher from village Khatkar Kalan, says it is clear that Bhagat Singh is removed from the memory of present-day politicians. About three months back, the Punjab Chief Minister offered support to a Pakistani delegation for converting Shaheed-e-Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh’s house at Lyallpur into a world-class memorial. Surprisingly neither the Pakistan government nor its delegation knew that martyr’s home has not only been preserved by that government, but has also been declared a heritage site. “This shows our CM’s concerns,” says Ajmer Sidhu, a Nawanshahr-based Punjabi short story writer, who has written on freedom fighters of Doaba.