Sarabha/Raikot : The youngest Martyr of the freedom movement Kartar Singh Sarabha sacrificed his life on 16 Nov 1915 by hanging till death for the sake of our country but unfortunately he has not yet been declared as a National Martyr even after 66 years of Independence. Many Political parties and alliances have ruled this country for more than six decades and many claim to come forward by using the names of the Martyrs, but none have ever bothered for the Martyr’s sacrifice though all of them harp on their sacrifice for vote politics during elections. These views were shared by the National President of the Sehajdhari Sikh Party Dr.Paramjeet Sing Ranu through an official press note of the party issued from its head office at Raikot.
He stated that his party has sought information under the RTI Act from the State Govt. raising queries that whether the State Govt. or the Union Govt. has declared S.Kartar Singh Sarabha as a National Martyr or not ? And if not then why not? And whether the State Govt. recognizes the house of the Martyr as a National monument or not? Instead of giving any adequate reply, the State Govt. washed off its hands by referring the request application to the Freedom fighters Wing New-Delhi as it had no information in this regard and only stated that the house of the Martyr has not been declared as any National monument but vide notification dated 27/11/1997 of the State Govt. it has been preserved and protected under the protection of old and historical Avsess Act 1964 section 4 clause (1) as a Historical old precious place.
S. Kartar Singh Sarabha was an Indian Freedom Fighter and a leading luminary of the Ghadar Party which advocated violent uprisings to free India from Imperial British control. The judgement in respect of 63 Gadharites was pronounced on September 13, 1915 at the Central Jail Lahore in this first conspiracy case of 1914/15 AD,24 Gadarites. He was hanged on November 16, 1915at the young age of eighteen by the British authorities for his revolutionary activities. The Court observed that Kartar Singh Sarabha was the most dangerous of all the rebels. “He is very proud of the crimes committed by him. He does not deserve mercy and should be sentenced to death” That day too he was happy as always. His weight too increased. He embraced the hanging rope with the words, “Victory to Mother India.” Even Bhagat Singh used to keep the picture of Kartar Singh Sarabha in his pocket for inspirations during the battle of freedom.
Dr.Ranu stated that 90 % of the Sikh Martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the Independence of India, were Sehajdhari Sikhs who were born in Sikh families for eg. Kartar Singh Sarabha , Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev but unfortunately the SGPC also do not recognize them officially as true Sikhs, whereas for vote politics all the AkaliDals in Punjab harp on the names of their sacrifice by paying tributes and homeages with crocodile tears and tall speeches. He said that Sehajdhari Sikh Party is the real custodian of these Martyrs and if till 16 Nov 2013 the Govt’s both State and Central fail to honour our Martyr with a status of National Martyr then they shall adopt legal remedial measures for the cause.