While Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is holding a string of presentations these days on ‘azadi’ after the conclusion of a month-long series of lectures on ‘nationalism’, Delhi University (DU) is going to unveil its roots to the Indian Nationalist movement by converting the place where freedom fighter Shaheed Bhagat Singh was imprisoned into a library dedicated to his “words and wisdom” to be inaugurated on Wednesday in the North Campus.
The iconic symbol of nationalism has come up just beneath the power house which is the ‘Viceregal lodge’, where Bhagat Singh was imprisoned during the peak of Freedom movement of India.
“We have displayed the books, writings and are in process of adding more literary material to this library which is in the basement of my office...it is of great historical importance as Bhagat Singh was imprisoned here. There is no historical record but it is noted to be the place where he spent a day as prisoner,” the newly appointed DU Vice Chancellor Yogesh Tyagi Tyagi told The Pioneer.
As a mark of tribute on his (Bhagat Singh’s death anniversary), the DU is going to open the library for visitors, including students and children.
The VC who floated the idea of collecting Bhagat Singh’s writings, books, articles and other literary and historic artifacts to be included in the library said, “At this stage, we are focusing on collecting more data. The space is little here so large crowd cannot come but we are working on how to make it more accessible to our students and kids who would be able to learn a lot from the life of Bhagat Singh.”
DU Registrar Tarun Kumar Das stated, “In commemoration of the Martyr’s Day, the DU aspires to make everyone learn from the lives of Bhagat Singh and his associates. It will be a guided tour where students would be enlightened about the scholarly work of Singh through electronic and print medium.”