Udham Singh's memorial opened a year ago, but his belongings yet to be brought from UK

Parvesh Sharma

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Sunam, July 30

It’s been a year since the Shaheed Udham Singh Memorial was inaugurated at Sunam, but the authorities have failed to shift his belongings from the UK and a local college named after him.

Not only this, the installation of four statues with different looks has caused confusion among residents, who have decided to raise the issue with the authorities.

A room at the museum has some photos of Shaheed Udham Singh, his letters and some other articles, but urns containing his ashes are still gathering dust at the local Shaheed Udham Singh College in Sunam. Though the urns were shifted to the newly constructed memorial last year after its inauguration on July 31 by the then CM Capt Amarinder Singh, these were shifted back to the college without any valid justification.

“If the authorities are unwilling to shift the belongings of the martyr to the memorial, then why was it built? Various belongings of the martyr, including pocket diaries, a pistol, a cobbler knife, two empty cartridge cases and clothes, are still lying in the custody of the UK government. But it’s shocking that the authorities have failed to shift even his ashes from a local college. The state should look into the matter and we will raise it during the function on Sunday,” said Jatinder Jain, RTI activist.

During a visit to Sunam, The Tribune team found that the look of four statues, three installed near ITI Chowk and one at the memorial, is different as locals alleged that various governments got these installed without conducting proper research.

Sunam SDM Jaspreet Singh could not be contacted.

“We got the statue of Shaheed Udham Singh installed at the memorial after conducting proper research. While the three other statues installed earlier were prepared without research, it has caused confusion. For proper upkeep of the memorial, I have taken up the matter with the Centre,” said BJP leader from Sunam Daman Thind Bajwa, who was in the Congress earlier.