Punjab to celebrate Bhagat Singh centenary

Jalandhar, Sept 21: Punjab is all set to celebrate the 100th birthday of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh with much fanfare.

The celebrations, scheduled to start on September 28, are aimed at remembering the illustrious son of the soil as as a genius thinker, philosoper and leader on his birthday.

The campaign is spearheaded by two CPI frontal organisations, All India Youth Federation(AIYF) and All India Student Federation(AISF) in association with several other NGOs. It was launched in 1997 on the 90th birth anniversary of Bhagat Singh which received momentum in 2000 when these organisations announced to celebrate the centenary year of the great martyr in a big way throughout the state, CPI Punjab State Secretary Jagrup Singh said.

As per the programme the year-long centenary celebrations would begin on September 28 with all festivities of "Deepmala" which including colourful lighting, bursting of crackers, exchange of sweets and other cultural programmes in each and every village and town of the state, Mr Singh told sources.

This would be preceded by a number of programmes throughout the year which would include conferences and seminars on ideals and philosophy of Bhagat Singh and light and sound shows based on his life and philosophy.

Other programmes to be celebrated during the year, include holding of district level rallies on birth anniversary of revolutionary Kartar Singh Saraba, guru of Bhagat Singh, on November 17, seminars on life, thoughts and role of Bhagat Singh in all the districts during the month of March and a massive mass contact programme coupled with cultural shows on the history and role of revolutionaries from July 31, the martyrdom day of Shaheed Udham Singh Sunam.

The CPI state chief said, ''We are planning to celebrate September 28 every year as festival of lights as our aim is to establish Bhagat Singh's birth anniversary as a festival and to establish the great martyr as a genius thinker, philosopher and great leader of his times.'' He said that the campaign launched by various organisations including AIYF, AISF and several other NGOs had succeeded in evoking good response among the people.

He said presently activists of these outfits had been undertaking mass contacts, presenting cultural shows, distributing Bhagat Singh's literature and stickers and raising funds for holding the programmes.

UNI