Direct access to house of freedom icon Sukhdev soon
A direct path for visitors to the ancestral home of freedom fighter Sukhdev Thapar in Ludhiana will be developed ahead of his 115th birth anniversary. The house, which is largely inaccessible, will require the acquisition of a residential property that lies in the path of the proposed route. The demand for the direct path was first made in 2007 and the process began in 2011, but it has taken over a decade to come to fruition. The beautification of the ancestral home has also been completed, but the heritage wall outside the house is still under construction.
Ahead of freedom fighter Sukhdev Thapar’s 115th birth anniversary, a long-standing demand for the development of a direct path for visitors to his ancestral home in Ludhiana is set to be fulfilled, over a decade since the process was begun.
The house, tucked away in a maze of congested lanes, was largely inaccessible for visitors and a plan to acquire the land required in the old city’s Naughara Mohalla area —where the route will be built — was sent for the department of local government for a final approval on Monday. The then local bodies ministerTikshan Soodhad started the procedure in 2011. The land houses a residential property which will be acquired.
The draft notification sent to the department onMonday by the sub-divisional magistrate (Ludhiana East) said the land — which houses a residential property — in the way of the direct path will be acquired under “The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Act, 2013” at public expense for public purposes.
The new developments come just in time for Sukhdev’s 115th birth anniversary on May 15. The British hanged Sukhdev along with socialist freedom fighters and his comrades Bhagat Singh and Rajguru on March 23, 1931 in Lahore Jail. Thapar undertook a number of revolutionary activities in the freedom struggle and was a co-accused in the Lahore Conspiracy case.
Sukhdev’s kin has been demanding the direct route for a long time. The first demand was made in 2007. A member of Sukhdev Thapar Memorial Trust, Tribhuvan Thapar, who is also part of the third generation of Sukhdev’s family, SAID? the house is hidden away in a network of roads.
“A direct route will help increase visitors to the heritage site, experts and officials,” he said.
“But, while a major hurdle in the process has been cleared, it would have been great if the final formalities could have been completed within a week so that occasion could be celebrated along with the birth anniversary,” he added.
Meanwhile, the work to complete the heritage wall outside the ancestral home, recounting the Sukhdev’s life from birth to the gallows has yet to be completed. In recent months the house, which is two centuries old, has undergone a major renovation and beautification.The beautification of the ancestral home was started in December 2021 and is the final stage. MC additional commissioner, Aaditya Dachalwal, said that the work has been completed on the civic body’s level and final report has been sent to the local government.
