Modi, Rajnath, Hazare to visit Punjab

Chandigarh, March 18 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay tributes on March 23 to freedom struggle martyrs Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev at Hussainiwala in Punjab, along the India-Pakistan border. Home Minister Rajnath Singh and social activist Anna Hazare will also visit the state in the coming days.

Modi was earlier scheduled to visit Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of Bhagat Singh in Nawanshahr district, 80 km from here.

However, according to Punjab BJP president Kamal Sharma, it was conveyed to the prime minister that Hussainwala was a historic place where the last rites of all three great martyrs were performed. It was then decided that Modi will travel to Hussainiwala instead of Khatkar Kalan.

Modi will address a 'Shridhanjali Samaroh' at Hussainiwala in Ferozepur district.

The prime minister, who will land at the Amritsar airport, will travel to Hussainiwala by helicopter, Sharma said.

He will later come back to the Sikh holy city of Amritsar where he will offer prayers at Harmandar Sahib, the holiest of Sikh shrines, popularly known as the Golden Temple, and at the Hindu shrine of Durgiana Mandir.

Modi will also visit the historic Jallianwala Bagh martyrs' complex near the Golden Temple where hundreds of innocent Indians attending a rally where shot dead by British forces on April 13, 1919.

On Monday, Hazare is likely to visit Bhagat Singh's ancestral village Khatkar Kalan to pay tributes and start his campaign in support of farmers in light of the land acquisition bill brought by the Modi government.

Rajnath Singh will also arrive at the Attari border checkpost, 30 km from Amritsar, on Sunday (March 22).

The home minister will be attending the retreat ceremony at the Attari-Wagah joint checkpost of India and Pakistan.

He will also attend an event to mark the end of the camel safari expedition 2015 of the Border Security Force (BSF).