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Goa CM hails sacrifice of Punjab’s Karnail Singh Benipal, visits his wife
Road leading from Goa international airport to be named after martyr Benipal, who made supreme sacrifice for Goa’s independence in 1955
: Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday said Goa will always be indebted to Karnail Singh Benipal, a resident of Isru village in Ludhiana of Punjab, who on August 15, 1955 laid down his life for liberating Goa from the Portuguese rule.
The Goa chief minister, who was in Chandigarh and visited Barola village in Ambala to meet Charanjit Kaur, widow of Benipal, said the road leading from Goa international airport will be named after Benipal.
Martyr from Isru hailed
Benipal was one of those who wanted Goa to be free from Portuguese rule after India’s independence.
The Goa Vimochan Sahayak Samiti, a Pune-based organisation working for Goa’s liberation had decided to hold satyagraha by crossing Goa border on August 15, 1955. The satyagrahis divided themselves into groups.
One group attempted to enter Goa through Patradevi border, while the other planned to enter South Goa via Pollem border.
Sahodradevi Rai, a young widow from Madhya Pradesh, holding the national flag was leading the group of satyagrahis at Patradevi. When her group tried to enter Goa, she was shot at and injured.
At this juncture, 25-year-old Benipal came forward and challenged the police to shoot him instead of attacking a woman. He too was shot on the Goa border at Patradevi and became a martyr.
“This incident in Goa’s history is hardly known at the national level even as several unarmed satyagrahis from various parts of India were shot by the Portuguese authorities on August 15, 1955,” an official spokesperson said.
Sawant in Ambala
The Goa CM reached Barola village in Ambala district of Haryana to meet Charanjit Kaur, widow of Benipal, and presented her a ₹ 10 lakh cheque as a gesture of honour.
Sawant said while celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and 60 years of Goa’s liberation, the state government had announced to give special honour to martyr Benipal. An invitation was sent to his wife Charanjit Kaur by the Goa government to attend the ceremony, but due to her ill health, she could not go.
The Goa CM had promised Kaur’s brother and sister-in-law, who had attended the programme on her behalf, that he would especially come to Ambala to meet her.
Paying glowing tributes to Benipal, the Goa CM in Chandigarh said that naming the road leading from Goa International Airport after Benipal is an attempt to remember the unsung martyrs who sacrificed their lives during the freedom struggle.
“Goa is also celebrating 60 years of its independence and as a part of these celebrations, I have specially visited Barola village in Ambala to meet Charanjit Kaur,” said Sawant, assuring all possible help to Kaur in future also.
The chief minister said that in the memory of the known and unknown martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the independence of Goa, a memorial is being built at Patradevi. A statue of Benipal has also been installed in the government school of Patradevi, he said.
Kaur refused to re-marry, lived as a martyr’s wife
Kaur was just 14 when she and her 21-year-old sister were married to two brothers of Isru village in Punjab in 1953. Her husband Sardar Karnail Singh Benipal was part of the Goa Liberation Movement. Kaur’s ‘muklawa’ (sending of a bride to her husband’s home) was yet to happen when she became a widow at 17. Kaur refused to re-marry and decided to live as a martyr’s wife, her nephew Paramjit Singh Badola told the HT.
Kaur thanked the Goa CM for his visit, but expressed displeasure at the Haryana government for not remembering her. ENDS
