Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Friday laid the foundation stone of a memorial in the name of legendary Sikh martyr, Baba Jai Singh Khalkat.

Terming the tradition and culture as the biggest asset of any nation, Badal said that those nations who tend to forget their cultural past and heritage were bound to be vanished with the passage of time. Badal, addressing the gathering, said that it was bounden duty of the state government to preserve our rich cultural heritage for the future generations till eternity.

“It is often said that Punjabis are known for creating history but they could not preserve it…It goes to credit of SAD-BJP alliance government that for the first time in history of state, concerted efforts have been made to conserve the glorious cultural heritage of the state,” he said.

He said that this historic monument, to be constructed over four acres of land, in the memory of legendary Sikh martyr Baba Jai Singh Khalkat would keep our younger generations abreast with the unprecedented sacrifices in the Sikh history.

It may be recalled that Baba Jai Singh Khalkat’s entire family, including his wife Sardarni Dhan Kaur, two sons Karraka Singh and Kharrak Singh and his younger daughter-in-law Amar Kaur, were martyred and Baba ji was skinned alive after being hung upside down from the tree and latter set on fire as ordered by the then tyrannical Mughal regime in 1753. Somehow, the pregnant wife of Baba ji's son Karraka Singh managed to escape to Ambala and gave birth to a boy that carries on the family of Baja Jai Singh.