Dream of 'Swaraj' not fulfilled: Advani

Gwalior, June 19 (UNI) Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani has said the dream of 'swaraj' by the immortal martyrs' was yet to be fulfilled.

''If we are given an opportunity, we will fulfill that dream. The British left but the country is still not free from poverty and corruption,'' the senior BJP leader said here last night while addressing a 'Lakshmibai Balidan Mela' to mark the Rani of Jhansi's martyrdom anniversary.

Lauding the Madhya Pradesh government's women empowerment schemes, Mr Advani said he wished that a 1857 Revolt memorial would be built here.

''It is my desire to visit the 'samadhi' (sepulchres) of martyrs.

We do not realise the true price of freedom until we visit the Cellular Jail at Port Blair. I urge youths to study Veer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar's book,'' he said.

Former RSS spokesman Ram Madhav alleged that history was distorted after the Independence and the true picture of certain revolutionaries' was not depicted.

''My government has included lessons on revolutionaries in textbooks,'' Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said.

Parliamentarian Najma Heptulla alleged that the martyrs' memorials were lying neglected in India and abroad.

UNI