Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday paid tributes to the Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, the three revolutionaries who laid down their lives fighting for India’s independence from colonial rule at Hussainiwala village in Punjab on Martyrs’ Day.
Hussainiwala village is where the last rites of the three freedom fighters were performed following their execution under British rule on the 23rd of March in 1931 in Lahore jail.
A National Martyrs Memorial has been erected at the Hussainiwala village in their memory.
On the occasion, the PM said that justice to the three freedom fighters can only be done if there is qualitative improvement in the lives of all citizens.
He called upon the farmers of Punjab, who, he said, had eliminated hunger from India, to now take the lead in adopting modern water conservation practices and judicious use of chemical fertilizers. He emphasised that if farmers follow the Per Drop More Crop principle, it will not just save water, but also increase the yields of their farms.
He outlined the benefits of two initiatives of the Centre – the Soil Health Card and Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sichai Yojana.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured that the govt is committed to providing employment to the children of farmers while slamming those trying to mislead farmers on the Land Acquisition bill.
He reiterated the govt’s commitment to provide all possible help to those farmers who have lost their crops to the recent unseasonal rainfall and hailstorm.
The Prime Minister explained how the Centre is working towards empowering states with more resources. He spoke about the benefit that Punjab would derive with the govt accepting the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission.
He said that more resources will be at Punjab’s disposal, since Punjab will get Rs 54,000 crore in the next 5 years, as opposed to Rs 20,000 crore that it received in the same time frame in the past.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also paid tributes to martyrs of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and visited the historic Golden Temple in Amritsar on a day-long visit to Punjab.
He visited the Jallianwala Bagh memorial and paid floral tributes at the memorial, where British troops opened fire and killed hundreds of unarmed Indians in April 1919. He stopped by the Martyr’s Well which stands testimony to the brutal killing of people.
He also offered prayers at the Golden Temple in Amritsar before visiting the Durgyana temple.