Lahore: A group of lawyers of the Lahore High Court on Wednesday celebrated the 117th birth anniversary of Sukhdev, a comrade of Bhagat Singh, and asked the Pakistan government to grant the legendary freedom fighters the status of “national heroes”.
The lawyers associated with the Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation gathered on the premises of the Lahore High Court (LHC) and a cake-cutting event was held on the court’s lawn to mark the freedom fighter’s birth anniversary.
A resolution was also passed on the occasion demanding the naming of a road after Sukhdev in Lahore. A chapter on him should be included in the school syllabus and a special postal ticket or coin also be issued in his name, it demanded.
Sukhdev was born in Ludhiana, Punjab on May 15, 1907.
Speaking on the occasion, the foundation’s chairman Imtiaz Rasheed Qureshi said they proudly observe the birth and death anniversaries of these independence war heroes and the government of Pakistan should also acknowledge their sacrifices and declare them “national heroes” of the country.
British rulers on March 23, 1931, hanged Bhagat Singh along with Raj Guru and Sukhdev at Shadman Chowk in Lahore after trying them under the charges of hatching a conspiracy against the regime. Singh was initially jailed for life but later awarded a death sentence in another “fabricated case”.
Bhagat Singh is respected in the subcontinent not only by Sikhs, and Hindus but also Muslims.
The foundation has demanded Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to grant the status of “national heroes” to Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Raj Guru. Bhagat Singh should also be awarded Pakistan’s top gallantry award and Shadman Chowk Lahore should be named after him.
