Nation celebrates Shaheed Bhagat Singhs birth centenary

The nation today commemorated the birth centenary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh.

New Delhi, Sept 28 : The nation today commemorated the birth centenary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh.

A special two-day long programme is being organised in Amritsar beginning today. The Sikh holy city has been decorated and illuminated to mark the birth centenary celebrations of Bhagat Singh.

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh who was expected to attend the big event had to cancel his visit following his doctors' advice.

Singh is recovering from the prostate gland surgery, which he underwent last week.

Bhagat Singh's relatives from the world over participated in the procession that started from his native village of Khatkar Kalan in Punjab's Nawan Shahr District.

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni and chief ministers of Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand were expected to attend the event.

A rally jointly organised by Shaheed Bhagat Singh Naujwan Sabha, Punjab and Punjab Students Federation was inaugurated by Bhagat Singh's nephew Jagmohan Singh.

In his address Jagmohan Singh gave an insight in to the personal life of Bhagat Singh and how he became a revolutionary from an impulsive youth.

As a child, Bhagat Singh was deeply affected by the 1919 Jalianwala Bagh Massacre, in which British forces mercilessly killed hundreds of men, women and children on orders of General Dyer on April 13, 1919.

At the age of 13, Bhagat Singh actively participated in the Mahatma Gandhi's Non-Cooperation Movement in 1920.

He was hanged for shooting a British police officer in response to the killing of veteran social activist Lala Lajpat Rai.

ANI