Outfits demand naming of International Airport, Halwara, after martyr Kartar Singh Sarabha

Harshraj Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 3

Residents and members of different organisations staged a massive protest against the state as well as Central governments at the DC office here on Friday. They were demanding that the International Airport, Halwara, should be named as Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha International Airport.

The protesters said the governments and the authorities concerned have been ignoring their demands for over one year.

People from different villages and the members of the Inquilaab Zindabad Jathebandi, Panthic Akali Lehar, Sikh Youth Power of Punjab and Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha Lok Bhalai Manch, Punjab, participated in the protest march started from the statue of the martyr at Bhai Bala Chowk to DC office. They also burnt an effigy with pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh in it while expressing their anger.

The martyr’s ancestral village is Sarabha that is located a short distance from the airport. The protesters said despite their repeated demands, the governments failed to fulfil them.

The protesters said a memorandum had been submitted to the district administration and letters written to the government authorities multiple times but no steps were taken to name the airport as “Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha International Airport” to date.

Sukhwinder Singh from Halwara said, “We had launched a signature campaign last year. Around 4,500 persons had signed to demand that the airport should be named as Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha International Airport. We had then also submitted a memorandum to the Ludhiana DC on July 1, 2020, but to no avail. Recently, a board has been installed regarding International Airport, Halwara, but the martyr’s name was missing. We then wrote emails to the government authorities but our voice was ignored. Thus, we were forced to mark the protest today. We also submitted a fresh memorandum to the administration today regarding our demand.”

Sandeep Kaur, social worker from Lohat Baddi, near Raikot, said, “Our first demand is that the airport should be named as Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha International Airport. The martyr’s ancestral village Sarabha is located about 5 km from the airport. Our second demand is that the unemployed youth of the nearby villages should be provided jobs at the airport.”

The protesters said they will soon write emails to all 117 MLAs and 13 MPs of Punjab to support their demand and take necessary steps for naming the airport as “Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha International Airport’.

In June 2020, while responding to a query related to renaming of the upcoming international airport at Halwara as “Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha International Airport”, Cabinet Minister Vijay Inder Singla, had then stated that the Punjab government is also considering this demand and would request Capt Amarinder Singh to take up this issue with the Union Government.