Soldiers of 1857 forgotten again after being dug out

AJNALA (AMRITSAR): Renaming the British-labelled Kalian Wala Khu as Shaheedan Da Khu has made little difference, since the first war of independence's 282 soldiers dug out of this well after 157 years remain buried in neglect even on their 166th martyrdom anniversary.
Ajnala's public along with social organisations such as Majha Virsat Trust (MVT) and Kalian Wala Khu (Shaheed 1857) Foundation are questioning this indifference towards a place of historical significance, asking why the sacrifices of their brave ancestors are being overlooked and forgotten, while the government spends lavishly to tom-tom its accomplishments.
Lamenting these forgotten sacrifices of 1857, MVT president Parshotam S Ajnala said: "The soldiers who rebelled against the British were shot down or left to die. Their memory remains alive only by the efforts of a few locals and their trusts. On August 1, these like-minded people will gather to pay homage to the martyrs. We ask the central government to release a postal stamp to honour the 282 soldiers and demand an apology from Britain.
Kalian Wala Khu (Shaheed 1857) Foundation general secretary Kabul Singh Shahpur said: "Nothing is being done to preserve the articles of historical importance that the locals had dug out in 2014 along with the skeletons. These badges and other belongings of the slain solders were given to a couple of villages for safekeeping, but they refused to hand those over to the government. We want these articles recovered and placed in a museum."
He also asked for a pucca road to the historical well beneath Ajnala's old Gurdwara Singh Sabha near the Ravi river and about 40 km from the Pakistan border. The Army will participate in the August 1 function, but the locals wish that the Punjab government also joined.
Pandey's last stand
In the 1857 freedom struggle, the 26th Native Infantry Regiment stationed at Mian Mir, Lahore, now in Pakistan, was disarmed on May 13 after the news of mutiny in Meerut and Delhi, and kept under surveillance. On July 30, led by Parkash Pandey, its 282 soldiers took a stand against the British oppressors, killing a British major and a sergeant major before heading towards Ajnala through a flooded Ravi. Informers gave them away to the-then Amritsar deputy commissioner, Fredric Cooper, who got them caged in the Old Tehsil. MVT president Parshotam S Ajnala said: "Trapped and helpless, 200-odd suffocated to death in that room."