Plea to declare Ambala Central Jail national monument

Tribune News Service

Nitish Sharma

Ambala, September 11

With a proposal to shift the Central Jail Ambala and land being identified for the purpose, former Ambala Bar Association president and Congress leader Rohit Jain has requested the President of India to declare the Central Jail a National Monument.

Freedom fighters were lodged here

• The memories of prominent freedom fighters and great men, including Mahatma Gandhi, are attached with this jail
• Nathu Ram Godse and Narayan Apte were hanged here. Several freedom fighters, including Basant Kumar Vishwas, Sucheta Kriplani, Maulana Sabri, Shaheed Bhagat Singh's sister Amar Kaur and Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, the first Health Minister of independent India, were lodged here

Jail to be shifted

The throwing of narcotics and mobiles into the jail premises from outside and the poor condition of the building are the reasons behind the decision of the authorities to shift the jail

The Central Jail Ambala was built in 1872 as a “sub jail”. In 1930, it was turned into District Jail and granted the status of Central Jail in 1947.

In a letter, Rohit Jain, treasurer, Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, mentioned: “Central Jail Ambala is a holy place associated with the Independence movement. The memories of freedom fighters and great men, including Mahatma Gandhi, are also attached with this 175-year-old historic jail. Nathu Ram Godse and Narayan Apte were hanged here. The jail also finds its mention in the famous novel “Kim” of Rudyard Kipling. The state government is shifting this historical heritage from here and a proposal has been made to build a new jail in Ambala.”

“Several freedom fighters and revolutionary people have stayed in this jail. Basant Kumar Vishwas, a brave revolutionary, was hanged here. On September 3, 1915, 12 people were hanged by the British for rebelling against the British. Freedom fighter and first Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Sucheta Kriplani also stayed in this jail. Maulana Sabri also stayed in Ambala jail during the freedom struggle. Amar Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s sister Amar Kaur was kept here in 1942. Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, the first Health Minister of independent India, who faced atrocities of the British during the Quit India Movement, was also lodged here,” the letter reads.

Rohit Jain said that many dreaded militants were kept here and also 29 criminals were hanged after Independence. The last person hanged here was in 1989. The country is celebrating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. We request that as a true tribute to all the great freedom fighters who were martyred and imprisoned in the Central Jail Ambala would be to declare it a national monument without tampering with the existing historical structure of this jail.

“Ambala is an important and historic city. The existing structure should be preserved so that the coming generations could be taught told about an important chapter of the history and struggle for Indian freedom. We just don’t want that to see any commercial building coming up here after the shifting of the historic jail. Letters have also been sent to the Prime Minister, Governor Haryana, Chief Minister, Prisons minister and the Director General Prisons,” Jain said.

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