3-day Mela Gadri Babeyan Da ends with tributes to martyrs

Jalandhar, November 1

The final day of the three-day Mela Gadri Babeyan Da began with the hoisting of the Gadar Party flag by Desh Bhagat Yadgar Committee senior trustee Surinder Kumari Kochhar in Jalandhar today. The Gadar Party flag was showered with flowers and homage was paid to the martyrs amidst raising of slogans “Inquilab Zindabad”.

On the third day of the mela sentiments were also echoed in favour of the people of Palestine, Manipur and for the release of various intellectuals in the country, who were in jail.

Upholding the anti-imperialist and anti-colonial legacy of the Gadarites, the mela reverberated with an anti-establishment, revolutionary speeches, songs and plays which echoed at the main stage. A bustling pandal full of booksellers did brisk sales as hundreds of people gathered to buy books of their favourite authors.

Posters, quotes and sketches/paintings of icons as varied as Karl Marx, Bhagat Singh, Babasaheb Ambedkar, Che Guevara, Frederic Nietzsche, Udham Singh, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Rani Jindan, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Maharaja Duleep Singh, Pash, Shiv Kumar Batalvi, Sidhu Moosewala and Deep Sidhu were displayed at stalls.

Earlier in the day, general secretary of the Desh Bhagat Commemoration Committee, Prithipal Singh Marimegha, welcomed people, organisations and the press, who came to the fair.

He said the fair was dedicated to the legacy of the Gadri Babas. He said the present challenges helped in realising the dreams of the Gadri patriots for a state and society with freedom, equality and secularism. Ajmer Singh, committee president, said, “It is our duty to raise our voice for the struggling nations and people of the world.”

Surinder Kumari Kochhar, senior trustee of the commemoration committee said founder president of the Gadar Party, Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna, wrote in his diary that every Gadarite soldier would fight until the roots of loot, discrimination and injustice were not weeded out.

Cultural wing convener Amolak Singh; vice president Kulwant Singh Sandhu; assistant secretary Charanji Lal Kanganiwal; treasurer Seetal Singh Sangha; committee member Ranjit Singh Aulakh; Dr Parminder, Kulbir Singh Sanghera, Mangat Ram Pasla, Harwinder Bhandal, Surinder Singh Jalaldiwal and Prof Tejinder Virli among others were present on the occasion.

A flag song “Chanan de vanjare” written by Amolak Singh was presented by Manch Rang Manch Amritsar under the direction of Punjabi director and dramatist Kewal Dhaliwal. The song was composed by Harinder Sohal.