Comrade Ritabrata Banerjee in the House on naming of Chandigarh airport as Bhagat Singh International Airport

Date: 
March 24, 2017

Aaj 23 March , Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev aur Rajguru ka shahadat Diwas hai. In 1931, on this day they were hanged. There has been a controversy going on with the naming of Chandigarh Airport. The Punjab govt. had agreed that the airport will be named after Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh. But the govt. of Haryana had not agreed on the matter. They want to name the airport in the name of one RSS Leader Magal Sain.

Yesterday there has been a brutal lathi charge by the Haryana Police on students and youths who were agitating with the demand of naming the airport after Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh.

The British archives records when Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev & Rajguru and other revolutionaries were sent to jail, the the jailer said “ I know you are lions and I know how to tame lions ”. But the lions were never tamed and Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev & Rajguru and a host of death defying heroes made supreme sacrifices.

The Hon’ble Prime Minister on September 11, 2016 inaugurated the airport at Mohali. But till date the airport is not named after Bhagat Singh.

This debate has been going on for long regarding the name. The Punjab Govt. had agreed while the Haryana Govt is opposed to it.
As Hon’ble Leader of Opposition has said because today is 23rd of March, we must take the opportunity of honouring Bhagat Singh. The government can declare the name of the airport today itself.

Ultimately my point is that Bhagat Singh was reading Lenin in his last hours. The British Archives bears testimony to that. While they went to the gallows they gave slogans of Inquilab Zindabad. They had the song of another revolutionary Ramprasad Bismil in their heart.

“Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai
Dekhna hai zor kitna baazu-e-qaatil mein hai..
Dil mein tuufaanon ki toli aur nason mein inqilaab
Hosh dushman ke udaa denge humein roko na aaj
Duur reh paaye jo humse dam kahaan manzil mein hai”
I will just urge upon the Hon’ble Leader of the House that today the government can announce this decision to honour the heroes who made supreme sacrifices for the land and its people.