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.
Ranjit Singh, a former follower of Ram Rahim, was shot dead by four assailants on July 10, 2002, in Kurukshetra after he allegedly "raised his voice" against the self-styled godman, who is currently lodged at the high-security Sunaria jail in Rohtak, 250 kms from state capital Chandigarh.
Bharatiya Janata Party chief J P Nadda on Tuesday asked the Congress national leadership to clarify their stand on whether they support the remarks on Kashmir and Pakistan made by party leaders in Punjab. Nadda said that the silence of the Congress leadership will be seen as being implicit to such objectionable remarks.
The farmers union leaders had earlier pointed out that Punjab had failed to hike sugarcane SAP in proportion to Haryana over this period, causing fiscal losses to them.
The Punjab Congress leaders who have distanced themselves from the so-called festering revolt in the party are: Kuldeep Vaid, Dalvir Singh Goldie, Santokh Singh, Angad Singh, Raja Warring and Gurkirat Singh Kotli, all MLAs, and Bhalaipur Ajit Singh Mofar, a former MLA.
Gurbachan Singh (55) was a relieved man after he welcomed his three sons at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here. They were among the 78 Afghan- Indians who were evacuated from Kabul to Tajikistan on Monday and to Delhi on Tuesday afternoon.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters along with former Finance Minister P. Chidamabaram, Gandhi said: "The Prime Minister and the BJP said that the Congress had done nothing in last 70 years. There is a list here of all the assets that the Congress has helped build using the public money.
