Badal gives nod to Sikh martyr's memorial

A memorial of Sikh martyr Baba Jai Singh Khalkat will be constructed at his native village Baran in Patiala district at a cost of Rs 10.50 crore, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said today.
He asked the organizing committee under the chairmanship of former minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan to execute the project, an official release said.
He also directed the Secretary of Rural Development and Panchayats to get the estimate of the project verified from Technical Advisor to the Punjab government B S Dhaliwal so that this project could take off at the earliest, it said.
Sekhwan told the Chief Minister that this monument would be constructed to keep the younger generations abreast with the sacrifices of the Sikh martyr.

Sekhwan, who prepared a concept paper on the life of Khalkat, said, "The martyr was skinned alive after being hung upside down from a tree and later set on fire as ordered by the Mughal forces in 1753."
The Chief Minister asked Sikh scholars and historians to undertake focused research to unearth more such martyrs and heroes who still remained unsung in the annals of Sikh history.
He also asked the Department of Rural Development and Panchayats to make efforts to step up the overall development of the villages Baran and Nawan Baran as a befitting tribute to the sacrifice of Khalkat.