Ferozepur, March 13, 2018: It is very unfortunate that GST of Rs.52,000 has been levied on the statute of Shaheed Udham Singh – had killed Michael O’Dwyer to take revenge of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre that took place on April 13, 1919, when the British-Indian army had fired at more than 10,000 unarmed men, women and children who had gathered there on the occasion of Vaisakhi, said Sukhchain Singh Layalpuri, President Shaheed Udham Singh Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation Punjab.
Added here that Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today unveiled that marble statute of Udham Singh arranged by All India Kamboj Mahasabha Shahid Udham Singh at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar. built at a cost of Rs 10 lakh. Udham Singh had killed Michael O’Dwyer in London in 1940. Michael O’Dwyer was lieutenant governor of Punjab at the time of Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919.
Layalpur said, the government should have installed the statue of Shaheed Udham Singh but the Kamboj community managed its cost by colleting the funds. The government has done nothing except to give permission to install the statute.
He said, the martyrs are the real capital of the country and it is also the duty of the government to educate the coming generation about the sacrifices of the martyrs. Not only this, GST has also been levied on the ‘langar’ on the goods of community kitchens, which is said to the biggest kitchen of the word and it does not behave well on the part of the government.
On the behalf of the whole Kamboj community in India and abroad and Shaheed Udham Singh Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation Punjab has demanded from the Centre government to establish world-class Shaheed Udham Singh Library which may be dedicated to the Punjabis, by the Prime Minister, on the 100th Centenary celebrations of Jallaianwala Bagh.