Revolutionary Kartar Singh Sarabha remembered on 125th birth anniversary

Tribune News Service

Phagwara, May 24

To commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of the great Indian revolutionary Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha, the Department of History of the Kamla Nehru College for Women, Phagwara, in collaboration with Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha Chair, Punjabi University, Patiala, conducted a webinar on the topic “Learnings from the life of Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha”.

Eminent historians and personalities from the field of education, namely Dr Bhiminder Singh, chairperson, Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha Chair, Punjabi University, Patiala, Prof Jagmohan Singh, chairperson, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Shatabdi Foundation, Ludhiana, and Prof Parminder Singh, joint secretary, Desh Bhagat Yadgar Committee, Jalandhar, were invited as the resource persons at the webinar. They were all introduced by Nimratdeep and formally welcomed by Principal Dr Savinder Pal.

The webinar commenced with an informative PPT on the life of Kartar Singh Sarabha. Prof Parminder Singh discussed the selfless sacrifice of Kartar Singh Sarabha and highlighted his role in the propagation of Ghadar Movement. He discussed how Kartar Singh tried to dismantle the military structure established by the Britishers to create communal disharmony in the country. Dr Bhiminder Singh talked about Sarabha as a pioneer of Punjabi journalism with reference to the publications of Gadar magazine to which he contributed even while being in the US.

Prof Jagmohan Singh, nephew of martyr Bhagat Singh, discussed in detail the non-communal nature of the Ghadar Movement, of which Sarabha was a part of. He elaborated this with the example of simultaneous hanging of Sarabha and Vishnu- Ganesh Pingley. He also commented on the tireless spirit of Kartar Singh Sarabha as an empathetic, fearless and dedicated revolutionary towards the cause of a united and non-communal freedom movement leading towards ‘Inquilab’. He also urged the youth of the country to take forward the socialist and secularist spirit, staunchly supported by Sarabha.

Dr Savinder said the students should seek inspiration to strive for the betterment and upliftment of society from the life of Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha who was just 19 at the time of his martyrdom. Dr Savinder Pal expressed her heartiest gratitude to the resource persons for enlightening the audience with their valuable knowledge. She further congratulated the Department of History for conducting such an informative session which not only illustrated the events from history but taught major life lessons, too.

Kamlesh, Head, Department of History, expressed her gratitude to the students and faculty members of her college and from other colleges for gracing the webinar with their presence. Almost around 100 participants including professors and students attended this webinar.