Punjab CM wants international airport to be named after Bhagat Singh

Chandigarh: Urging the Prime Minister to intervene in the row over naming of Chandigarh International Airport after freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday said there is a national consensus on the issue and a formal decision to this effect should be taken soon.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi should intervene personally and put an end to any controversy on the issue as it is creating an unsavoury situation for all those who take pride in national martyrs," the chief minister said.

"A proposal to this effect is already with the Government of India and we all assumed and still remain convinced that considering the massive national following Sardar Bhagat Singh enjoys, no one will even consider opposing the proposal. Any controversy on the matter needs to be snuffed out as quickly as possible," the Chief Minister said in a release here.

Badal said all martyrs are worthy of adoration but everyone in the country acknowledges Sardar Bhagat Singh as 'Shaheed-e-Azam', the greatest martyr among martyrs.

In fact, he is a national and international icon, at par with heroes and martyrs like Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Mandela and Mahatama Gandhi, he added. Badal described him as the "pride of India" and said,

"Sardar Bhagat Singh does not belong to Punjab alone but is a national treasure. We all know that national heroes like Sardar Bhagat Singh, Subhash Chandra Bose, Sardar Kartar Singh Sarabha, Madan Lal Dhingra, Shaheed Udham Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru are the common heritage of the nation. Their names should never be made a subject of controversy by anyone," said the Chief Minister.

"It is distasteful and an affront to all our great national icons even to drag the issue of naming the International Airport after Shaheed-e-Azam Sardar Bhagat into a controversy. Even to raise a question on any proposal to name a national project after him would be unsavoury and a disservice to all those who, like Shaheed-e-Azam, put the interests of the nation above anything personal," said Badal.

The Chief Minister also hit out at Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President Amarinder Singh for allegedly trying to politicise the legacy of martyrs.

"Captain Sahib should know that on this issue at least, only silence suits him, because Bhagat Singh laid down his life fighting the very legacy which Captain Singh represents.

Shaheed-e-Azam was martyred by the British imperialists whom the Patiala royalty supported.

"I personally do not like raking up the pro-British and anti-martyrs legacy which Captain Amarinder Singh had inherited from his predecessors in the Patiala Shahi Gharana.

But the least he can do to help us in helping him in the matter is for him to stay out of any issue concerning our national martyrs," Badal said.

A few days ago Amarinder had claimed that the Centre had agreed to name the Chandigarh airport after Mangal Sein, an RSS leader and a former Haryana Deputy Chief Minister, instead of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. He had also condemned Badal for not raising the issue with the Centre.

Notably, the new international airport has been mired in controversy over it name as Punjab had been demanding that the airport be named as 'Shaheed-e-Azam Sardar Shaheed Bhagat Singh International airport, Mohali'. Punjab Assembly unanimously had passed a resolution in this regard. However, Haryana government had objected to 'Mohali' word and insisted on keeping its name after Chandigarh.