High spirit, march past mark I-Day celebrations

The 79th Independence Day was celebrated at the grounds of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) with patriotic fervour on Friday.

During the event, Cabinet Minister Aman Arora, who was the chief guest, outlined the transformative achievements of the Bhagwant Singh Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the past three years, emphasising its commitment to building a vibrant and prosperous Punjab.

After hoisting the Tricolour, Arora inspected the parade and paid tributes to freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Madan Lal Dhingra, Lala Lajpat Rai, Udham Singh and Karnail Singh Isru for their sacrifices in the country’s freedom struggle.

“Punjabis have made unparalleled contributions to the nation’s freedom and continue to lead in safeguarding its interests,” he said.

The minister said Punjab was the first state in the country to deploy anti-drone technology along the international border to curb drug and arms smuggling, a significant step under the Yudh Nasheyan Virudh campaign. He urged Punjabis to unite in the fight against the drug menace. A march past, led by parade commander Harshpreet Singh, PPS officer, with contingents from the Punjab Police, Punjab Home Guards, NCC scouts, and others, was also held. A vibrant mass PT display by 810 government school students and a patriotic cultural programme by students from institutions followed the event.

Arora also honoured families of freedom fighters, awarded police personnel and parade participants and recognised individuals for outstanding contributions in various fields. He also distributed tricycles among specially-abled individuals and sewing machines among the needy.

Later, Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Jain along with Commissioner of Police Swapan Sharam felicitated the minister.

Freedom fighters, kin face inconvenience

Meanwhile, many freedom fighters present on the occasion alleged that they were not treated in a proper manner by officials on duty and there were no facilities of water and fans. President of the Freedom Fighters Association Chetandeep Singh said many family members of the freedom fighters and martyrs had to face inconvenience despite the fact that they were “invited” for the event.

They demanded that they should be given preference as their fathers and grandfathers had contributed a lot for the freedom of the country. They demanded that reservation in jobs should be given for the families of freedom fighters. Besides, in Mini-Secretariat, they may be provided a separate cabin/office, where they can meet. Besides, government officials must visit the houses of freedom fighters who are in their 90s, to get their issues resolved.

Aman Arora visited the freedom fighters’ families, pacified them and felt sorry if few of them were not being taken care of well by the authorities concerned.

Cong leader Ashu flays Sisodia over remarks

Senior Congress leader and former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu on Friday criticised the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia for exhorting party workers to resort to any means, fair or fowl, to win the 2027 Assembly elections in the state.

Reacting to Sisodia’s statement during a function with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann being present in the event, where the former said: “Saam-daam, dand-bed, sach-jhoot, question-answer, ladai-jagda, jo karna padega, karenge.”

Ashu said it had revealed AAP’s mindset and strategy and they stand exposed now.

He said the ruling party employed same tricks during the Ludhiana West Assembly byelection. But he warned the AAP and its leaders that they must not be mistaken that 2027 would be like the bypoll, where the ruling party would be allowed to abuse power.

The Congress leader said the AAP leadership had already realised and saw the writing on the wall that the party could in no way win the elections in a fair way, due to which it was exhorting people to resort to unfair means.

“But don’t be mistaken, we will not let that happen in 2027,” he told Sisodia, adding that, “if you think that coming from Delhi you will try to hijack the poll with such unfair means, in Punjab, you probably not know Punjabis”.

Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Jain said: “On August 14, it rained heavily, I myself had two meetings with freedom fighters’ association before August 15. There might be some inconvenience due to excessive rain occurred just before one day as the administration decided to hold the Independence Day function as planned. Senior officials were also deputed. However, if there has been any inconvenience, I will inquire about it in detail and fix the responsibility so that it does not repeat in future. We are celebrating the day only due to the contributions of our freedom fighters and sacrifices of their respected families. Their honour is our honour.”