Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 16: Former Union Minister, Prof Chaman Lal Gupta has termed it a good suggestion made by some Congress leaders that the Jammu Airport be named after Maharaja Hari Singh a great Dogra ruler.
While welcoming the suggestion, Prof Gupta however questioned that why it was not done much earlier and more so who were the elements who had put this great patriot in exile, away from his people at Mumbai where he breathed his last in a hapless situation.
In a statement issued here, today Prof Gupta said that it was Maharaja Hari Singh who supported the cause of independence of India like a patriot at the Round Table Conference (RTC) held at London in 1930 and faced the wrath of the British imperialists in shape of various conspiracies.
He said it was the Maharaja who had signed the Instrument of Accession to integrate his State with secular India and thus provided a legal sanctity to J&K to be an integral part of the Indian Union. But it was height of vindictiveness that the same Maharaja was put in exile to appease the Sheikh Mohamed Abdullah.
Prof Gupta said that not only this, the great leader of the Praja Parishad , Pt. Prem Nath Dogra who was opposed to such a sad treatment to the Maharaja and such like other wrongs, was arrested and detained in jail without trial at Srinagar to face the vagaries of the weather for months together.
Prof Gupta said that while considering the demand for renaming of the airport , such like other places should be given due thought to be named after great men like Dr Shayama Prasad Mukerjee and Pt Prem Nath Dogra who made tremendous sacrifices for unity and integrity viz a viz J&K with India.
He also proposed that various parties desiring to contest the civic polls in their election manifestoes should include their proposals in this regard as was done in seventies civic elections by the then Jana Sangh.
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