OLiSwEll

Tags : Bhagat Singh, Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister, Sheila Dikshitt

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may have just wanted to reaffirm
his idea of 'nation building' when he asked Delhi Chief Minister Sheila
Dikshit to name a spot in the national capital after Sir Sobha Singh,
writer Khushwant Singh's father and the 'builder' of modern Delhi. But it
seems that he was rubbing some of his patriotic countrymen the wrong way.

The PM, citing a representation, had written to Dikshit on June 28 to name
an area after Sir Sobha Singh, who was a key contributor in the
construction of landmarks in the Capital, including Connaught Place. Acting
on the letter, the Delhi Government zeroed in on Windsor Place and has
moved the proposal to the Home Ministry seeking permission to rename the
area to mark the 100th anniversary of Delhi being declared the national
capital.

Freedom fighters and Left parties are up in arms against the PM's
name-changing move. They feel that Sir Sobha Singh had deposed against
Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh in a Lahore court which led to his martyrdom.
Upset with the decision, some of them have written to the PM urging him not
to go ahead with the plan while others have begun a massive letter campaign
representing the entire country. There are also plans to hold a dharna and
a candlelight march at Windsor Place.

Leading the pack is the Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena. It has written to the PM
reminding him that Sobha Singh was the person who gave a statement against
freedom fighters—Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt—in the Lahore Bomb case
because of which they were hanged to death.

"Bhagat Singh is a source of inspiration for the youth of the country.
Whenever somebody talks about youth patriotism, Shaheed Bhagat Singh's name
comes up. This decision of the PM has hurt the sentiments of the entire
country," Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena has said in its letter.