Raza Academy offers to pay for restoration of memorial

Raza Academy, one of the organisers of the Azad Maidan rally held on August 11, has offered to pay for the restoration of the Amar Jawan Jyoti, the memorial that was vandalised during the violence.

Raza Academy, one of the organisers of the Azad Maidan rally held on August 11, has offered to pay for the restoration of the Amar Jawan Jyoti, the memorial that was vandalised during the violence.

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Saeed Noori, general secretary of Raza Academy, had written to the city's municipal commissioner on August 14 requesting for permission to restore the memorial. As the authorities restored the memorial by Independence Day, Raza Academy forwarded another request on Sunday seeking to compensate the cost of restoration. However, the organisation has not received a response yet.

"We hope that the authorities respond to our request," said Noori. "We are a peace-loving organisation, and we were hurt by the destruction of the Amar Jawan memorial. It is every citizen's responsibility to respect the soldiers who fought for the country," he said.

In the letter, Noori said though the perpetrators of the violence were not associated with the academy, as a social organisation, they wished to bear the restoration cost.