A day after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh pitched for inclusion of Maharana Pratap’s story in the CBSE curriculum, a high-level panel headed by him announced its decision to commemorate the birth anniversaries of six legendaries, including freedom fighters Rani Gaidinliu, lala lajpat Rai and Tatya Tope besides the Rajput ruler on a large scale this year.
The National Implementation Committee on Commemorations at its first meeting held on Tuesday also announced its plans to hold events to celebrate birth centenary of Bhisham Sahni, and 500 years of return of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to Vrindavan. Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, Union Minister of State for Culture Mahesh Sharma, Governor of Nagaland PB Acharya and other members associated with the celebration of commemorations were also present in the meeting.
A senior official said that at the meeting the date and venue for the commemoration ceremony of birth centenary of Rani Gaidinliu, 150th birth anniversary of lala lajpat Rai, 200th birth anniversary of Tatya Tope, 475th birth anniversary of Maharana Pratap, birth centenary of Bhisham Sahni and 500 years of return of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to Vrindavan was discussed.
Unveiling a statue of Pratap in Rajasthan’s Pratapgarh district, Rajnath Singh had on Sunday termed the erstwhile Mewar ruler as a Great and called for according him his due respect and dignity just like Akbar. The Rajput King is known for his bravery and his refusal to accept Akbar’s suzerainty despite his defeat in the Battle of Haldighati. He is also known for his guerilla warfare that he waged against Akbar.
little known to Indians, Gaidinliu was a Naga spiritual and political leader who led a revolt against British rule in India while Tatya Tope was an able leader of the great uprising of 1857. Padma Bhushan awardee Bhisham Sahni was one of the most prolific writers of Hindi literature. A native of Nabadwip in Bengal, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was a Hindu monk and social reformer from 16th century India.
Singh said that these great personalities have enriched the history and culture of the country and high quality, befitting commemorations on a large scale should be organized for each one of these personalities. “The celebrations of these six commemorations should begin in a phased manner between July-October this year to give enough time for adequate celebration,” he added. Jaitley called for setting up structures like auditoriums and theatres to pay tribute to these personalities at their birthplace while Sharma said that the details of the activities to be carried out during the commemoration ceremonies will be worked out by the sub-committees.