FAISALABAD:
Few people today know of a shabby room at a small house in Bangah, Jaranwala, where a 20th century revolutionary spent his early years. The passage leading to it has almost caved in. There is a bulky blue safe and a closet left behind by the original occupant of the room.
The house itself is a comfortable building occupied by Muhammad Iqbal Virk, who inherited it on the death of his father Fazl Qadir Virk. The house is surrounded by farmland.
A mango tree stands in the backyard.
This is the place where Bhagat Singh grew up. His 106th birthday was on September 28.
Virk says his father was allotted the 38-acre farm once owned by Bhagat Singh’s family when he migrated to Pakistan from Gurdaspur, India, in 1947.
Virk says upkeep of the house was left to him after the death of his father.
“We knew we were living in Bhagat Singh’s house,” he says. “I have tried to preserve what is left of it.”
He shows his collection of books, articles and photographs of Bhagat Singh.
He says administration officials frequently visited the site place promising to renovate the house and restore it.
“Former governor Khalid Maqbool had announced to preserve the site. A feasibility report was also produced. But the work never started,” he says.
He says Sikh pilgrims visited come every year and many took of the soil from the foot of the mango tree, which was apparently planted by Singh. Singh went to a public school.
A classroom, in ruins now, has been identified as the place where he studied.
Not much is known of the young boy, but by local accounts, he enjoyed spending time out in the fields more than remaining cooped up indoors.
The field next to the old school has all but disappeared. It now resembles a marsh more than a bustling schoolyard. The field is inundated with rainwater.
Singh was convicted and subsequently hanged for his participation in the murder of a British police officer in Lahore, aged 23.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 29th, 2013.
COMMENTS (13)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
shame on the subcontinent for letting this 'treasure' wither away. Why should the onus be only on Pak to preserve his house and school. He was a 'national' hero of both countries across the border. Ind too should participate in this project.
He shows his collection of books, articles and photographs of Bhagat Singh. Can we also see it as I believe they might be rare and need to be archived and preserved?
Dear modifiers! What was wrong with mentioning who we considered Pak heroes? And what was wrong with suggesting a temple/museum instead of just a road crossing? Also, what was the harm in mentioning those actions of British that uplifted the Indian minorities from misery and hopelessness?
@Ch. Allah Daad:
shame on Punjab govt..... you meant...??? but could not say that as u are a trumpet of the same...!!! we must surely preserve sites of historical importance regardless of religion, caste etc.... if we do not value our history we will one day become history (and very very bad at that) and no one will value us....!!!
Poor Bhaghat singh made just one error of judgement. He forgot to include a "sheikh" or a "bin arab" in his name. Then "sycos" galore would come to the rescue
@Punjabi from other side: Destruction of any historical heritage out of petty revenge is regressive and representative of narrow mindset. There are many fields, in which Pakistan is not a good example to emulate.
BTW in that particular case, There's a property dispute involving Jinnah's daughter Dina Wadia. Pakistan also wants it for consulate.
The sorry state of houses of historical heroes Bhagat Singh, Ranjit Singh or Sir gangaram is disappointing .I don't know why Govt.of India stills preserves Bombay house of Jinnah ,should be demolished immediately.
Willing to make donation for preservation of this historical place.Requests others to do the same as Govt. has no interests in preservation of historical places..
A good gesture from ET . Thanks for highlighting !!
Compare to Bengal, anti-British revolutionaries and revolutionary activities in Punjab were 'peanut'.
Bhagat Singh was born in present day Pakistan and died there. Tragedy is that Pakistanis don't accept him as their hero simply because he was not Muslim. Time to honor him suitably by Pakistan.
Very "nicely" preserved. Shame on him.