Tagging history: Items in Bhagat Singh’s house to get descriptions

The plan for the household items comes after Navjot Singh Sidhu, the tourism minister, who visited on October 2, was questioned by reporters about the absence of tags there.

The tourism department will soon start an exercise to give full description of things preserved in the ancestral house of martyr Bhagat Singh at Khatkar Kalan village in SBS Nagar (Nawanshahr) district, officials said on Thursday.

Ancestral House Of Shaheed Bhagat Singh (HT File Photo)

The items include utensils, wooden boxes, a table, an almirah, some pictures, an old wooden bed with carving, a weighing machine, a charkha (spinning wheel), and a typewriter, but none has a proper description about their historical importance or link with the freedom fighter. The museum next to it has all items described on a tag.

The plan for the household items comes after Navjot Singh Sidhu, the tourism minister, who visited on October 2, was questioned by reporters about the absence of tags there. He blamed the previous regime of the SAD-BJP and said the department would look into it.

Some family pictures, utensils and a typewriter are among the things kept at the house renovated last year, at Khatkar Kalan village in SBS Nagar.

When contacted for a follow-up, tourism director Shivdular Singh Dhillon said the department will now enquire about things preserved in the house and give descriptions after getting the authentic information. “It will done with complete authenticity.”

After the renovation, it was opened to the public and many things were kept in the house; but the department failed to give any descriptions.