The Arvind Kejriwal Government will install statues of freedom fighters — Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru — inside the premises of the Delhi legislative Assembly and take steps to include the contributions made by the three martyrs in school curriculum.
Speaking at an event in the Assembly premises on their martyrdom day, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has suggested that MlAs should contribute from their salaries towards the installation of the statues.
This is the first time that the Delhi Government has celebrated the martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru at Vidhan Sabha premises. During the Congress rule in the last 15 years, martyrdom day was never celebrated at the Delhi Assembly.
The Ministers and all the AAP MlAs were present on the occasion, which saw them participating with full zeal and fervour as they sang and danced to the tune of patriotic song Mera Rang De Basanti Chola on the occasion.
“They (statues) should not be installed using the taxpayers’ money. I have instead proposed that all MlAs contribute from their salaries to infuse patriotism in us. I have also requested the Speaker and Secretariat officers to ascertain the cost of the statues and give it to us, so that we can take further action on contributing,” Sisodia said.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, “The Speaker has proposed to install the statues of the three icons inside Vidhan Sabha, which we all seconded.”
He said necessary steps would be taken to “inculcate” among students the ideologies of these freedom fighters.“I have also requested the Education Minister to frame the syllabus of schools in such a way that the ideologies of these three great souls, especially of Bhagat Singh, could be inculcated among students from the beginning of their school days,” he said.
Earlier, Speaker Ram Niwas Goel mooted the proposal of installing the statues, which was seconded by Kejriwal and Sisodia.
“Apart from observing Shaheed Divas, this day should also be observed as Desh Divas. People should take a resolution today to do something for the betterment of the country. Only offering floral tributes won’t work,” said Kejriwal.