Ravinder Saini
Tribune News Service
Dhakla (Jhajjar), May 3
Nearly a century after a Haryana braveheart laid down his life fighting for the British in Egypt, the soil from the grave of the World War-I hero was brought to his native village today.
Agriculture and Irrigation Minister Om Prakash Dhankar brought the soil from the grave of Risaldar Badlu Ram, a recipient of the Victoria Cross, to Jhajjar this morning amid raising of patriotic slogans by locals.
The soil was later taken to his native village, Dhakla, in a procession. Dhankar laid the foundation stone of the Badlu Ram Memorial as contingents of the Army and police fired a volley of shots into the air.
The minister said an official delegation from the state had gone to Egypt to participate in a seminar on “Sustainable farming and water management during climate change”. “I got a chance to visit a war memorial to Indian soldiers who had sacrificed their lives during World War-I. I feel proud to have brought back a symbol of Badlu Ram from the Heliopolis War Cemetery in Cairo (Egypt),” said Dhankar.