Remembering visionary men of yore
Intro: Statues help us revisit history and keep the past alive. Situated in the middle of the bustling city are the statues of the intellectual giants of an era gone by. Standing tall across the streets, parks and mohallas, the statues, commemorative plaques and busts rekindle memories of these warriors and reflect the past.
Tribune Correspondent Aparna Banerji and photojournalist Malkiat Singh make an attempt to throw light on the monumental structures erected in the memory of great warriors, statesmen and freedom fighters.
1) Lal Bahadur Shastri: A white-stoned statue of Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri, the second Prime Minister of India, and a seasoned politician, is located at the bustling Shastri Chowk. His bust was inaugurated by former President Gyani Zail Singh, the then CM of Punjab, on May 22, 1976. He gave the slogan of “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan.” He was a man of integrity and competence.
2) Udham Singh: A Ghadarite revolutionary Udham Singh is among the legendary freedom movement icons of Punjab – who — like Bhagat Singh – commands great respect among the youth. He shot Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab, Sir Michael O ’Dwyer dead on March 13, 1940, to avenge the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. Shaheed Udham Singh’s statue at the Udham Singh Nagar near Doordarshan, Jalandhar, was inaugurated by the then Mayor Jalandhar Jai Kishan Saini on January 28, 1995.
3) Dr BR Ambedkar
An architect of the Indian Constitution, a staunch critic of caste discrimination Dr BR Ambedkar’s message remains embedded in the ethos of Jalandhar. Ambedkar came to Jalandhar addressing several congregations in 1951. His conversion to Buddhism also led a wave of Buddhist conversions in the region, a tradition still observed by many families. He is also a reverberating symbol of the contemporary Dalit consciousness and protest discourse in the region.
4) Bhagat Singh is one of the most popular and revered freedom movement icons till date. His name recently surfaced again during the farmers’ protests. Located at the city bus stand, the statue of this towering figure is dressed in bronze. It was inaugurated by former CM Parkash Singh Badal on October 24, 2007. Bhagat Singh remains the most popular political icon celebrated by the masses till date. His ancestral village Khatkar Kalan remains a potential centre of politics.
5) Beant Singh’s statue has been installed at the BMC Chowk. Ex- Chief Minister of Punjab, he was born on February 19, 1923, in Bilaspur district of Ludhiana. He graduated from the Government College, Lahore. He won as an independent candidate to Punjab Vidhan Sabha in 1971, from Payal Constituency. He also served as the PPCC President and was the Chief Minister of Punjab from 1992 up to his death. He had to pay a heavy price for wiping out terrorism from the state. His epitaph goes as, “Mar ke bhi na niklegi mere dil se vatan ki ulfat; Meri mitti se Khushboo-e-vatan ayegi.
6) Mahatma Gandhi: Born as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, he was the man whose non-violent resistance against the British eventually sounded death knell for the colonial empire of the British in India. Teaching the path of non-violence and ahimsa to the world, his style of protest is still deemed to be the most effective for the civil rights activists raising their voice against atrocities across the world. Gandhi also visited the Harivallabh Sangeet Sameelan in Jalandhar in the year 1919. His white statue, quite synonymous to peace and harmony that he advocated throughout his life, stands tall near the Town Hall.
7) Major Raman Dada: Major Raman Dada of the 11th Battalion, Sikh Regiment, on the night of May 12, 1999, led a raid operation on a National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) hideout in thick jungles and mountainous terrain of upper Diring near Assam — Arunachal Pradesh border. Major Raman’s party reached the hideout. Two of the militants who opened fire were shot dead by him. Thereafter, an encounter began lasting for about one hour. During the encounter, Major Raman attacked another militant and after a hand-to-hand fight, killed him. In the due process, he was also critically injured. Bleeding profusely, he refused to be evacuated and shot dead another fleeing militant before succumbing to his injuries. Going beyond the call of duty, Major Raman Dada led from the front and made the supreme sacrifice of his life in the highest traditions of the regiment. He was awarded Kirti Chakra (second highest gallantry award in the country) posthumously. His statue is located at the Kapurthala Chowk, Jalandhar.
8) Capt Roopendra Singh Garcha is another valiant son of Jalandhar who lost his life during a combat with insurgents. Capt Roopender Singh Garcha was born on Oct 29, 1974, in Jalandhar. He did his schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya-II, Jalandhar Cantt, and graduated in computer sciences from Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar in 1995. He was commissioned into the Indian Army on September 5, 1997. On June 30, 2000, he was assigned the task of neutralising militants in the Ghat Tokum village in Pulwama district. He sustained fatal injuries in an encounter with the militants, thus attaining martyrdom.
9) Jathedar Gopal Singh Qaumi: He was an active member of the Gurdwara Reform Movement. A Ghadarite, he later became President of the Shiromani Akali Dal. Gopal Singh Qaumi’s epitaph on his statue near the Skylark Chowk reads: Gopal Singh Qaumi remained in confinement during the Freedom Struggle for 13 years in the Lahore Fort, Mainwali, Multan and Sialkot jails. He took an active part in the Simon Commission Boycott, ‘Quit India Movement’, Guru Ka Bagh Morcha and went on a 64-day hunger strike in jail. He was awarded Tamra Patra by the Government of India on August 15, 1975.
10) Swami Vivekanand: Born in 1863, the towering spiritual Guru became the bridge that took the Vedanta philosophy to the West. A disciple of Ramkrishna Paramhansa, a thorough intellectual, his address and presence at the Chicago Parliament of Religions in 1893 (when he had gone to represent Hinduism) won him great recognition. His Jalandhar statue established by the Bharat Vikas Parishad, with the cooperation of the Municipal Corporation was inaugurated on April 18, 2010, by the then Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia and Mayor Rakesh Rathour.
11) Pt Kishori Lal: The statue of veteran freedom fighter Pt Kishori Lal was inaugurated by Chaudhary Jagjit Singh, the then Minister for Local Bodies on May 22, 2005. Pt Kishori Lal, was an associate of Bhagat Singh and a member of the revolutionary Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA). He Joined the Najawan Bharat Sabha in 1928 and was a part of the HSRA bomb making unit (at 69 Kashmir Building, Lahore). Courting arrest, while in jail, he was part of a hunger strike with the HSRA members and served an 18-year jail sentence across Lahore, Multan and Montgomery jails. Eventually influenced by the Marxist ideology in jail, he went on to join the Communist Party in 1942 and was elected Punjab President of the All India Trade Congress Union (AICTU) in 1948 and was a committee member of the CPI (M) in Punjab for many years. An active member of the Desh Bhagat Yadgaar Committee, he died on July 11, 1990 following a road accident.
