Delhi govt plans light and sound show, photo gallery at CP to mark Martyr’s Day

The events will be held at Connaught Place and will be a part of the “Freedom@75 celebrations”

Nearly 50 sunboard banners capturing the life of revolutionary socialist Bhagat Singh and the Independence struggle, a light and sound show depicting the freedom fighter’s life, cultural performances, and a talk show – that is how the Delhi government plans to mark Singh’s death anniversary on March 23, also observed as Martyr’s Day.

On Thursday, officials visited Central Park at Connaught Place to discuss the arrangements. (HT archive) (HT_PRINT)

The events will be held at Connaught Place and will be a part of the ”Freedom@75 celebrations” announced by the Delhi government in its annual budget last week.

On Thursday, officials visited Central Park at Connaught Place to discuss the arrangements. Sanjay Garg, head of Delhi Archives, said the department will be displaying around 40-50 sunboard banners in Central Park detailing key events from the freedom fighter’s life.

“We will mainly be focusing on Singh’s connection to Delhi -- the places he visited such as Feroze Shah Kotla; the detailed official report of when he bombed the assembly to make a statement; the SSP report which also states that schoolchildren of that time put up photos of Singh in their school – all these will be included in our gallery, apart from other chapters of the freedom struggle,” said Garg.

Officials also said four photographs of the legendary leader will be displayed alongside a light and sound show on his life. “The light and sound show is based on a book on Singh and will highlight Singh’s contribution to the freedom struggle. The show will nearly be an hour long and it will be on our social media platforms as well,” said Rajinder Singh, secretary of the Punjabi Academy.

Although the Delhi Archives has organised programmes on Martyr’s Day, the scale of programmes has increased in light of the Freedom@75 event, officials said. The department will also be working on multiple events on the freedom struggle celebrations.

Along with creating video slideshows of digitized documents on the freedom struggle, the department is also planning to hold “mobile exhibitions” that will travel to different parts of the city, digital documentaries, and talk sessions, among others.

Delhi Archives is also involved in a talk show on “the link between the freedom struggle and Delhi”, slated to be held on March 27 at the India Islamic Centre. “We have invited dignitaries such as Vinay Bharat-Ram, chairperson of DCM group, who have seen Delhi change over the years along with the families of freedom fighters Jugal Kishore Khanna, Jamia Millia Islamia co-founder Hakim Ajmal Khan and Mir Mushtaq Ahmed to speak on their memory of Delhi,” said Garg.