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| Former DGP flays casual unveiling of Dhanwantri statue | | | early times report
Jammmu, Dec 18: Former DGP and chairman Dhanwantri memorial Committee has resnted what he called casual, indiscreet and undignified unveiling of Dhanwantri's statue by Raman Bhalla and Rigzan Jora on December 10.
Expressing dismay, he said: "My attention has been drawn to news reports of unveiling of the statue of comrade Dhawantri by Ministers, Raman Bhalla and Rigzan Jora in a Park on the Railway road , Jammu on 10th of December, 2013 in presence of their official entourage.
The unveiling of the statue of the great revolutionary national hero ,an illustrious son of Jammu and a close associate of Saheed -i-Azam Bhagat Singh in such casual, indiscreet and undignified manner has not only surprised and dismayed me , my associates in the Comrade Dhanwatri Memorial Committee and huge number of his admirers in Jammu & Kashmir but also sent shock waves across the country.
It has also caused anguish and anger amongst the members of Comrades' family. That the deed was done ignoring the plea to await the proper scheduling of a public function worthy of his stature and identification of political personality to unveil the statue through mutual consultations between the Memorial Committee , members of Dhanwatri's family and the authorities was all the more regrettable . It evidenced arrogance and lack of democratic temperament.
The decision to install a statue of Comrade Dhanwantri was taken in 1998 by the then Chief Minister D. Farooq Abdullah on my persistent representations . An ideal site for the purpose was also allotted and Jammu Development authority commissioned to execute the project. The statue was completed by 2002 but the site allotted for the purpose had by then been diverted for a purpose we did not feel proper to contest.
Thereafter, the selection of site as well as the installation of the statue fell prey to ministerial apathy and bureaucratic inertia. The credit for reviving the project, finalisation of the site in consultation with the Memorial committee and directing construction of the pedestal goes to Dy. Chief Minster Tara Chand . Comrade Dhanwantri Memorial Committe, for obvious reasons would have preferred the unveiling of the statue by one of the three-Dr, Farooq Abdullah, who accorded the crucial sanction, Dy Chief Minister Tara Chand without whose positive intervention it may still be gathering dust in the JDA Store Room and Chef Minister Omar Abdullah . in a presence of the people of Jammu , who are the real inheritors of the legacy of the great revolutionary and outstanding freedom fighter.
The mounting disapproval of and anger against the improper and unacceptable manner of unveiling the Statue of Comrade Dhanwantri, however should in no way be allowed to dilute the historical import of the event." .
He appealed to all his compatriots to visit the Park opposite State Bank of India central complex on the Railway road , Jammu in large numbers to pay tributes to this 'son of the soil' who earned for Jammu a place of pride in the roll of honour of the legendry Indian revolutionaries Tremendous sacrifices proffered and untold suffering s undergone by Dhanwantri who spent seventeen years out of a total life span of fifty one years ( half of his adult life) languishing in British prisons including the dreaded Andaman Cellular prison called "KALA PANI" . will no doubt be a great source of inspiration for our youth.
Dhanwantri Profile
Dhanwantri s/o Lt. Col Dr Durga Dutt Mahey was born at Jammu on : 7th March 1902. Passed matriculation examination from S .R High School, Jammu., While studying Ayurveda at Lahore , he joined the revolutionary movement when at the age of seventeen and dedicated his life for the cause of freedom of the motherland from the British yoke .
Endowed with sterling revolutionary qualities he soon became a close confidant of Saheed-I-Azam Bhagat Singh and was co- founder of the 'Naujwan Bharat Sabha' and Hindustan Socialist Republican Party .
'Dhanwantri was arrested on 17 December, 1929 when ASP Saunders was shot by Bhagat Singh . Released after "Interrogation" and torture he went underground.
In 1930 Chandni Chowk ,Delhi shoot out he hit and grievously wounded the SP, who investigated the case against Bhagat Singh and killed his associate. Dhanwantri was apprehended by the police after stiff resistance and hot chase
Tried in the infamous Lahore Conspiracy and Delhi Conspiracy (Bombing of the train carrying the viceroy) along with other top revolutionaries, he was sentenced to ten years rigorous imprisonment in the notorious Cellular Prison in Andaman, (Kala Pani).
To protest against lodging of political prisoners in the Andaman jail actually meant for hardened criminals , Dhanwantri led a successful hunger strike for sixty-one days .The British government was forced to yield after Mahatma Gandhi and Jawahar Lal Nehru felt compelled to interve. . All political prisoners were repatriated to the mainland
Released in 1939 after undergoing ten years rigorous imprisonment. , he was re-arrested due to outbreak of the Second World War and released only in 1946.
Returning to Jammu in 1947 ,,he got down to the tasks of organizing secular democratic elements , mobilizing the people against the Pakistan led Tribal invasion. and triggering Dogra renaissance with special emphasis on language, culture and history .
Comrade Dhanwanri suffered imprisonment , isolation and torture for more than seventeen years in British jails out of his total adult life of thirty four years. The shattered health and numerous ailments , however failed to dampen his spirits.
Dhanwantri , who earned for Jammu a place of pride in the roll of honour of the legendry Indian revolutionaries breathed his last on 13, July 1953 in the place of his birth.
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