Ex-servicemen pay homage to Mangal Pandey

Barrackpore, Apr 19 (UNI) Bharatiya Swatantra Sangram Samity, comprising ex-servicemen, will reach here tomorrow after touring Moirang, Manipur, where the Indian national flag was first hoisted by the Indian National Army during the 'Dilli Chalo' march.

The New Delhi-based Akhil Bharatiya Purva Sainik Seva Parishad, organised a 'jatha' to commemorate the 150th year of the Sepoy Mutiny that led the country towards Independence.

''The jatha reached Berhampur today,'' district president of the Parishad Lt Col S.K.Ghosh said here.

The jatha began its journey from Meerut, leaving Delhi on March 7 and reaching Moirang about 100 km east of Imphal on April 14.

Purba Sainik Parishad officials in the state will receive the 'jatha' ceremoniously here at Barrackpore cantonment, from where the historical Sepoy Mutiny was launched by Martyr Sepoy Mangal Pandey of the 34th regiment of Native Infantry of British Army on March 29, 1857.

The members of the jatha will pay their tribute to Mangal Pandey and his followers, who sacrificed their lives for our independance, including Jamadar Issuree Pandey at a memoir here.

The team will also visit Noapara police station 10 kms north from here where Netaji Subhash Chndra Bose was detained for hours by the British police.

During its way back to Delhi, the jatha will move through Kolkata, Jharkhand, Baliya, the hometown of Mangal Pandey, Jhansi, and Lucknow, Col Ghosh said.

UNI