CM pays tribute to statehood martyrs
By Our Staff Reporter
Rampur Tiraha, 2 Oct: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami paid tribute to the martyrs of Uttarakhand state agitation by offering flowers at the Shaheed Sthal Rampur Tiraha (Muzaffarnagar) today. On this occasion, the CM also announced that statues of all the martyrs of statehood movement who laid down their lives during the Rampur Tiraha firing incident will be installed at Shaheed Sthal Rampur.
On this occasion, he also laid the foundation stone of the statue of the late Mahavir Sharma, who had donated land for the construction of Shaheed Sthal.
Dhami said that creation of a separate state of Uttarakhand was made possible due to the sacrifices and hard work of the martyrs. They had to endure many tortures and atrocities during the agitation. The CM reminded that the firing incident that took place at Rampur Tiraha on 2 October 1994 was very cruel and a deeply hurtful chapter of the statehood movement. No Uttarakhandi can forget the wounds inflicted by the atrocities on the agitationists who were going to Delhi in order to agitate peacefully for statehood.
The CM reminded that the statehood agitationists had sacrificed their present for the creation of the state and a better future. The people of the state will always be indebted to these heroes. The women of the state participated enthusiastically in the state formation movement and they never bowed down to atrocities inflicted on them. He claimed that the state government is working day and night to make Uttarakhand the best state of the country and it is making every possible effort to realise the dreams of the martyred agitationists.
Dhami added that the state government has implemented 10 percent horizontal reservation in government jobs for the state agitationists and their dependants. Along with giving pension to the families of the martyred agitationists, all the active agitationists who went to jail and got injured during the movement are being given pension every month.
The CM also asserted that the concept of a separate state also included the concern and the need to preserve the demography of the hill state. The state government is working with commitment to preserve the demography of Uttarakhand but, for this, cooperation of the people is also required. He added that a strict anti-conversion law has been implemented in the state. The work of removing encroachments from government land is also underway. Dhami stated that the state government is preparing to bring a strict land law very soon and for this, discussions are being held with all stakeholders, experts as well as the statehood agitationists.
Former Chief Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ also paid tribute to the martyred statehood agitationists and said that Uttarakhand was created due to the sacrifices of the brave sons of the soil who sacrificed their lives for the creation of the state. He reminded that Rampur Tiraha firing incident was committed on a day when the entire country was celebrating non- violence and the truth, the path of which was shown by Mahatma Gandhi. He reminded that women of Uttarakhand played a leading role in this movement. Nishank added that three states were formed in the year 2000. Of these, Uttarakhand is at the forefront in the field of development. Due to the efforts of the central and state governments, the state is making rapid progress.
On this occasion, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Kapil Dev, Vice President, Disaster Management Committee, Vinay Rohila, Roorkee MLA Pradeep Batra, District President BJP (Muzaffarnagar) Sudhir Saini, Meenakshi Swaroop, Secretary Hari Chandra Semwal, District Magistrate, Haridwar, Karmendra Singh and others were also present.
