Soil from WW-I hero’s grave reaches Jhajjar

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Dhakla (Jhajjar), May 3

Nearly a century after a Haryana braveheart laid down his life fighting for the British in Egypt, the soil from the grave of the World War-I hero was brought to his native village today.

Agriculture and Irrigation Minister Om Prakash Dhankar brought the soil from the grave of Risaldar Badlu Ram, a recipient of the Victoria Cross, to Jhajjar this morning amid raising of patriotic slogans by locals.

The soil was later taken to his native village, Dhakla, in a procession. Dhankar laid the foundation stone of the Badlu Ram Memorial as contingents of the Army and police fired a volley of shots into the air.

The minister said an official delegation from the state had gone to Egypt to participate in a seminar on “Sustainable farming and water management during climate change”. “I got a chance to visit a war memorial to Indian soldiers who had sacrificed their lives during World War-I. I feel proud to have brought back a symbol of Badlu Ram from the Heliopolis War Cemetery in Cairo (Egypt),” said Dhankar.