Pak’s Punjab gets notice for not naming Lahore Chowk after Bhagat Singh despite orders

The petition in the Lahore High Court was filed by the Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation of Pakistan.

Lahore:

A Pakistani court on Monday issued notice to the Punjab government and district administration seeking contempt of court proceedings against three senior officials for failing to comply with the court’s order to name Lahore Sadh after Indian War of Independence hero Bhagat Singh Order of Man Bazaar.

Lahore High Court Justice Shams Mahmood Mirza addressed a petition filed by the Pakistan Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation to Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman, Lahore Deputy Commissioner Rafia Haider and the city administrator issued the notification.

Imtiaz Rasheed Qureshi, chairman of the Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation, told PTI after the hearing: “The LHC has issued a notice to the accused asking them to Responding to the contempt petition for their failure to name Shadman Chowk after Bhagat Singh by March 26.”

Qureshi said the LHC in 2018 ordered the government to name Shadman Chowk, where Bhagat Singh was hanged in 1931, after the freedom fighter. “But both provincial and district governments have deliberately failed to comply with orders from the LHC, thereby committing contempt,” he said.

On March 23, 1931, Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar, who fought for the independence of the subcontinent Together they were hanged by the British rulers on charges of conspiring against the regime.

Singh was initially sentenced to life in prison but was later sentenced to death in another “fabricated case”.

Bhagat Singh is respected not only by Sikhs and Hindus in the subcontinent, but also by Muslims.

Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah reportedly paid tribute to him twice during his speech at the Central Assembly and said the subcontinent had never known a brave man like Bhagat Singh.

Qureshi said Bhagat Singh was a freedom fighter of the subcontinent and along with his companions, laid down their lives for the cause of freedom.

“It would be in the interest of justice to name Shadman Chowk after Bhagat Singh and install his statue in the square to inspire people of Pakistan and the world,” he said, adding, In neighboring India, there are many roads and avenues named after Bhagat Singh. Following Muslim rulers like Akbar, Shah Jahan and Bahadur Shah.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)