Chapter on Sham Singh Attariwala in school textbooks soon: Amarinder

Amritsar, February 10

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said on Saturday that a chapter on Sikh warrior Sham Singh Attariwala would be included in school textbooks, and Attari railway station and the integrated check post would be renamed after him.

Talking to reporters after paying floral tribute to Sham Singh Attariwala on his 172nd Martyrdom Day at the India Gate-War Memorial here, the chief minister said the state government would sanction Rs 10 lakh for the development of sports infrastructure and a museum in his memory.

The chief minister also paid tribute at Sham Singh Attariwala's memorial at his native village Attari.

He said the government had directed Punjab School Education Board to incorporate a chapter on the bravery of Attariwala in its syllabus, and had requested the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to include a chapter in its books.

He said he had taken up with the railway minister the issue of renaming Attari station after the great Sikh warrior, and had spoken to the union home minister on the re-christening of the integrated check post.

Sham Singh Attariwala, a general in Maharaja Ranjit Singh's army, was killed during the Anglo-Sikh war in 1846.

The chief minister also visited the ongoing Punjab Food Festival here. He suggested that Amritsar Town Hall get a Lahore-like food street for connoisseurs to relish local varieties.

With Amrtisar being a major tourist destination, a food street of Punjab's cuisine would be a major attraction for visitors, the chief minister said and directed Tourism and Culture Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu to work on the project.

Sidhu promised to commence work on it on priority and announced that the food street will come up at Town Hall within six months. — PTI