JAMMU, Sep 18: National Secular Forum (NSF), organized a program in University Campus and on the Birth anniversary of Madan Lal Dhingra who laid his life for the country. Amid slogans “Madan Lal Dhingra” “inqulaab Zindabad” ‘Bharat Mata ki jai” and they paid tributes to Madan Lal Dhingra and garlanded the portraits of the son of soil.
Ankush Abrol Provincial Joint Secretary JKNC was the chief guest while Dr. Vikas Sharma Coordinator and Secretary central Zone JKNC, presided over the function and Vikshay Vashist, Working President NSF was the guest of honour.
Speaking on the occasion, Ankush Abrol appreciated the efforts of NSF members to come forward and organized these functions and appealed to the youth to come forward to eliminate all evils from the society.
Abrol threw light on the life of martyr Madan Lal Dhingra who was born on 18 September 1883 in Amritsar. He went to London in 1906 to study engineering. His father, Dr Ditta Mal, retired as the Government Civil Surgeon and had twenty-one houses in Katra Sher Singh and six bungalows on G.T. Road. He also said that Thirty-one years later Udham Singh followed the same path and was executed on July 31, 1940 under almost similar circumstances.
Speaking on the occasion Dr Vikas Sharma threw light on the life history of Madan Lal Dhingra and appreciated the efforts of NSF. He was sentenced to death. After the judge announced his verdict, Dhingra is said to have stated: “I am proud to have the honour of laying down my life for my country. But remember, we shall have our time in the days to come”. He represented himself during his trial but did not recognize the legitimacy of the court. He stated that his assassination was done in the name of Indian independence and that his actions were motivated by patriotism. Madan Lal Dhingra was hanged on 17 August 1909 at Pentonville Prison.
Dr Vikas Sharma expressed strong concern over the appointment of non-locals in the education sector, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir’s universities. “This trend is blocking employment opportunities for highly qualified local youth and creating a sense of discrimination among the educated youth of Jammu and Kashmir,” he noted. The party demanded a fair and transparent recruitment policy with preference to local candidates.
Dr. Sharma also questioned the silence of the 29 BJP MLAs elected from the Jammu division, asking why they have not publicly raised these concerns if they believe the interests and employment opportunities of local youth are being affected.
Vikshay Vashist State Working President NSF also spoke on the occasion.
Irfan Ahmed, Chairman, NSF University Unit, delivered the welcome address and highlighted the importance of remembering the sacrifices of the nation’s freedom fighters.
Abhishek Uppal, President, NSF Jammu District Unit, presented the vote of thanks and expressed gratitude to the distinguished guests and participants for making the programme successful.
Among those who were present on the occasion included Vineet Gupta, Irfan Ahmed, Mohd Rafiq, Adil, Varun Singh and Puneet Sharma.