NEWDELHI: Congress leader Manish Tewari has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to confer India’s highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna upon freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev.
Taking to microblogging site Twitter, Congress Lok Sabha MP from Sri Anandpur Sahib in Punjab said, “My letter to H’onble Prime Minister @narendramodi formally requesting him to accord Bharat Ratna to Shaheed-E-Azam’s Bhagat Singh, Rajguru & Sukhdev.”
Tewari also requested the PM to formally confer the “honorific of Shaheed-E-Azam on them & dedicate Chandigarh Airport located in Mohali in memory of Bhagat Singhji.”
In a letter dated October 25 and sent to PM Modi, Tewari said “I would like to draw your kind attention towards the fact that Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev inspired an entire generation of patriots by their unrelenting resistance to British Imperialism and later their supreme sacrifice on the 23rd of March, 1931.”
In the letter, Tewari requested that the Bharat Ratna be conferred to the legendary trio of freedom fighters on January 26, Republic Day. He further asked that the Chandigarh airport in Mohali be renamed as Shaheed-E-Azam Bhagat Singh Airport, Chandigarh (Mohali), saying that the gesture “would touch the hearts and souls of 124 crore Indians.”
Earlier, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi had also vouched to confer Bharat Ratna to Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev.
Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru were three revolutionary heroes in India’s freedom struggle and were hanged by the British Raj for their alleged involvement in the killing of John Saunders. Considered as one of India’s most influential revolutionaries, Singh is often referred to as Shaheed Bhagat Singh, the word “Shaheed” meaning “martyr” in Hindi language. India observes Shaheed Diwas every year on the day of their execution, March 23, as a show of respect of its hero.