While freedom fighter Bhagat Singh was born on 28 September 1907 in the village of Banga in Lyallpur district, his ancestral home is located in Khatkar Kalan village. It was built in 1858 by Bhagat Singh’s great-grandfather Fateh Singh
A photograph of the entrance gate of Khatkar Kalan village. Wikimedia Commons
In a massive gain from their 2017 result, the Aam Aadmi Party is leading in more than half the seats of the Punjab state Assembly and Bhagwant Mann is set to become the next chief minister.
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Mann won from Punjab’s Dhuri seat by a margin of over 45,000 votes against his nearest rival and Congress candidate Dalvir Singh Goldy. He will now have to resign as Lok Sabha MP from Sagrur.
Mann has said that he will take oath as Punjab chief minister in Bhagat Singh’s ancestral village Khatkar Kalan, and not at Raj Bhawan.
“The oath-taking ceremony will not be held at Raj Bhawan, but at Khatkar Kalan. The date will be announced later,” Mann said while addressing party workers and supporters at Dhuri. He also said that no government office will carry a photograph of the chief minister. Instead, photos of Bhagat Singh and Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar will be put on the walls at government offices.
Here’s what we know about the famed village:
Geography
According to Census 2011, Khatkar Kalan village is located in Nawanshahr Tehsil of Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar district. It is situated nine kilometres away from sub-district headquarter Nawanshahr and nine kilomentres away from district headquarter Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar. As per 2009 figures, Khatkar Kalan village is also a gram panchayat.
Khatkar Kalan has a total population of 1,811 people and about 409 houses.
History
Freedom fighter Bhagat Singh was born on 28 September 1907 in the village of Banga in Lyallpur district. However, his ancestral home is located in Khatkar Kalan village. It was built in 1858 by Bhagat Singh’s great-grandfather Fateh Singh, who named it ‘Deewan Khana’. The house was declared a monument under the Punjab Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1964, in 1982 and handed over to the government in 1984. The house was renovated in 2016 at a cost of 42 lakh.
Besides Bhagat Singh, the village is also home to other freedom fighters such as Sardar Ajit Singh and Sardar Swaran Singh.
Main attraction
The Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh Museum was inaugurated in the village on 23 March 1981 — his 50th death anniversary.
It houses Singh’s half-burnt ashes, blood-soaked sand, and the blood-stained newspaper in which the ashes were wrapped. A page of the first Lahore Conspiracy Case’s judgment in which Kartar Singh Sarabha was sentenced to death and on which Singh put some notes is also displayed, a copy of the Bhagavad Gita with Bhagat Singh’s signature, which was given to him in the Lahore Jail, and other personal belongings.
Visitors can also see the pen that was used to sign the death sentence of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev.
Why is this important
The declaration is in line with the AAP’s poll narrative. Figures like BR Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh have been part of the party’s poll discourse ahead of the Assembly election. Mann had earlier said, “I want to appeal to the voter card is because of thousands of warriors such as Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev who laid down their lives. Do not give the voter card to someone due to allurement and pressure. Vote as per your desire, vote whomsoever you want.”
He has also said that no government office will carry photograph of the chief minister. Instead, photos of Bhagat Singh and Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar will be put on walls in government offices.
With input from agencies
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