Akali MPs raise protest at 1857 commemoration

New Delhi, May 10 (UNI) Akali Dal MPs, including Deputy Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal, today voiced their resentment in the Central Hall of Parliament against the government for not treating Anglo-Sikh wars of 1840s, preceding the 1857 'soldiers' uprising' as the First War of Independence.

Mr Rattan Singh Ajnala, Virendra Singh Bajwa(both Akali Dal) and Tarlochan Singh (Independent)got up when Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Bhairon Singh Sekhawat began his speech at the function to commemorate the First War of Independence.

Speaking in Punjabi, Mr Ajnala asked why the 1845 Anglo-Sikh war was not being treated as the first War of Independence and why Maharaja Ranjit Singh's General Sham Singh Attariwala was not being honoured as martyr of the country's freedom cause.

The Akali MPs' remarks surprised President A P J Abdul Kalam and several other dignitaries present at the function, attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Prime Ministers, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and diplomats of foreign countries.

They also contended that projection of 1857 as the First War of Independence was a "misnomer and factual error" as the Anglo-Sikh war preceded that.

Mr Ajnala, Mr Bajwa and Mr Tarlochan Singh had earlier raised the issue when the Speaker started his address.

They protested that attempts were being made to rewrite history as suited to some people and their politics.

UNI