Eyeing U'khand, Punjab polls, Cong to honour B'desh war veterans
Darpan News Desk IANS, 10 Dec, 2021 11:13 AM
New Dec 10 (IANS) With an eye on the upcoming Uttrakhand and Punjab Assembly polls, the Congress is planning to felicitate the war veterans of the 1971 India-Pakistan War during the end of the year-long celebration of 50th Anniversary of Bangladesh Liberation War
The celebrations will formally conclude with a ceremony in the national capital on December 15. Besides, programmes in all the districts would also be held on December 16.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi will be the Chief Guest at the ceremonial function here. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be addressing a rally in Dehradun (Uttarakhand) on December 16 that will include a large number of 1971 War Veterans and other military veterans.
Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal said: "Programmes like honouring War Veterans and War Widows, and commemorating the Bangladesh Liberation War-1971 shall be conducted in a befitting manner at the district level across the country on December 16."
The Bangladesh Liberation War, 1971 (BLW-71) celebrations (which were delayed due to Covid-19) started in mid July with a District level meeting at Panchkula (Haryana) on July 10, 2021.
To date, the Indian National Congress has organised over 100 district level meetings throughout the country. The state level functions commenced on November 16 with a meeting in Kohima (Nagaland) followed by other States and are continuing. Maximum District meetings have been held in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Tamil Nadu.
Through the formal concluding ceremony of Bangladesh Liberation War, 1971 (BLW-71) will be held on December 15, several states, which have not concluded their state level functions, have been asked to continue up to December 31 and conclude the celebration programmes with honouring of martyr families as also war veterans.
The programmes shall also continue at the District/Block levels in some of the "Soldier States" like Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan beyond the end of this year.
Venugopal said that all the meetings held so far, a large number of military veterans have enthusiastically participated and have been honoured. The programmes have also left an everlasting impression on the youth of the country making them aware of the saga of the Bangladesh Liberation War under the visionary and courageous leadership of Indira Gandhi, and the decisive military victory planned and executed under an outstanding military leadership of the day led by Field Marshal (then General) Sam Manekshaw.
After literally turning a deaf ear to the farmers’ issues for over a year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, November 19, 2021, in a dramatic move, announced the withdrawal of the three controversial farm laws, which were at the heart of the farmers’ protests across the country.
Earlier, Dhesi sent a letter, signed by over 100 British MPs and Lords, to Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the ongoing farmers' protests, asking him to raise this matter with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi when they next liaise.
The Chief Minister told the media here that for more than a year since the Central government had brought three agriculture laws for the benefit of farmers, especially small and marginal ones, unfortunately, some farmer unions had been protesting on the Delhi borders.
While the Centre's announcement to repeal three farm laws is seen as a political decision with eye on forthcoming assembly polls in five states, the BJP claims that it has nothing to do with elections as the party has won many states after laws were passed by the Parliament.
On January 12 this year, the Supreme Court had stayed the implementation of the three farm laws after scores of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh pitched their tents on various Delhi borders in protest against the three laws.
A nine-member committee of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), the consortium of protesting farmers' bodies, will be meeting on Saturday, and it is likely to put forth four main demands. The meeting will also decide whether the SKM will go ahead with the originally announced 'March Towards Delhi' programme on November 26.
