Bronze statues of Sikh warriors to adorn corridor check post

Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service
Dera Baba Nanak (Gurdaspur), October 23

The Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI), Union Government’s nodal agency entrusted with the task of constructing the Rs 190-crore Integrated Check Post (ICP), will be installing bronze statues of Sikh warriors in the first phase, while Sikh scholars and cultural experts want the life and legacy of Guru Nanak to take precedence over the sculptures.

LPAI officials have prepared a blueprint where 10-feet high statues of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Hari Singh Nalwa, Banda Singh Bahadaur, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and sculptures of renowned freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh and Udham Singh will be installed during the first phase of construction of the ICP.

The first phase building activity is currently underway, while the second phase will commence after the corridor is thrown open to the public next month.

Amarjit Singh Grewal, a noted Sikh culture expert and who has been assigned the responsibility of supervising the festivities slated to be held in the run up to the opening, said he and Cabinet minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa had met LPAI officials and insisted that Guru Nanak’s teachings and murals pertaining on his life should be established in the first phase.

“The statues can be established in the second phase. We are insisting on this change because the corridor is all about Guru Nanak and the life he spent in Kartarpur shrine, on the banks of the Ravi river, before passing away in 1539. The first phase should actually comprise of a mural or a series of them depicting the history and culture of towns alongside the Ravi. The spotlight should be on towns like Dera Baba Nanak, Chamba, Basholi, Kartarpur, Sialkot, Lahore, Amritsar, Nankana Sahib, Batala, Kalanaur and Gurdaspur,” said Grewal.

Randhawa said the LPAI had been receptive to their demands. “Paintings depicting how cities located alongside the Ravi evolved should be there when the ICP opens. Also emphasis should be on letting pilgrims know how and why Lahore was built on the banks of the river and how the division of India and Pakistan was done on the basis of the Radcliffe Line and the Ravi,” said the minister.

Randhawa said he and his team had fruitful talks with Akhil Saxena, Member (Planning and Development), LPAI, recently in this context.

“Discussions on various subjects were held. We also discussed what is to come up inside the ICP in the first phase and the projects to be unveiled in the second phase. The LPAI has agreed to a majority of our demands,” he said.

Meanwhile, three 55-feet wide commemorative gates are coming up at the entrance of Dera Baba Nanak city. Two of the gates are being constructed on the Batala road, while one is coming up on the road leading to the city from Fatehgarh Churian. “These are being established due to the efforts of Subeg Singh of Dera Charan Bhag sect of Goindwal Sahib,” said Randhawa.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has cancelled his proposed visit to the corridor tomorrow morning. However, he will preside over a meeting of the Cabinet to be held in Batala tomorrow at 11 am.