Two Decades On, Mai Bhago Martyrs’ Memorial in Muktsar Remains a Distant Dream
Twenty years have passed since the foundation stone was laid for the Martyrs’ Memorial in Muktsar town—meant to honor Mai Bhago and the 40 Muktas (liberated warriors)—but not a single brick has been added to the site since that symbolic gesture.
The memorial, proposed along Tibbi Sahib Road opposite Panjab University’s Regional Centre (PURC), was inaugurated with great enthusiasm on May 4, 2005, by then Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Parkash Singh Badal and SGPC head Bibi Jagir Kaur. Both leaders had pledged that the monument would be constructed swiftly.
Despite those promises, the foundation stone itself has since deteriorated, and the site remains untouched. Over the years, multiple meetings were convened, and an expert committee including faculty from reputed universities was formed, but no concrete progress followed.
Sources suggest there was once a proposal to shift the location of the memorial, but that idea was eventually shelved without explanation.
Meanwhile, the legacy of the 40 Muktas continues to be honored by the Sikh community. On their Martyrdom Day, observed this past Saturday, religious programmes were held across gurdwaras in Muktsar. Prominent Sikh leaders, including Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj and Takht Damdama Sahib Jathedar Tek Singh Khalsa, participated in the ceremonies.
The prolonged delay in building the memorial has left many in the community disheartened, viewing it as a missed opportunity to preserve and promote a vital chapter of Sikh history.
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