RLD demands Bharat Ratna for hero of first war of Independence Mangal Pandey

Ballia (UP), Jun 9 (PTI) The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), a part of the ruling NDA, on Monday demanded that Mangal Pandey, hero of the sepoy mutiny during India’s first war of Independence in 1857, be conferred the country’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna.

RLD national secretary Anupam Mishra told reporters that it is unfortunate that the contribution of the great revolutionary has remained "unrecognised".

Mishra, who arrived in Ballia on Sunday as part of the Amar Shaheed Samman Yatra, visited Pandey’s birthplace in Nagwa village.

“Mangal Pandey deserves the Bharat Ratna. In fact, it would be an honour for the award if it is being given to such a great revolutionary,” he said.

The RLD leader also demanded the installation of the world’s tallest statue of Mangal Pandey in Ballia, asserting that his contribution surpasses that of many other leaders of the freedom movement.

Pandey, a sepoy, had rebelled against his British officers in 1857, triggering a wave of uprising against the colonial rulers in what came to be regarded by many as India’s first war of Independence. Born in Uttar Pradesh in 1827, he was executed by the British in 1857.

“Had he not sounded the first bugle of India's war of independence, there would have been no (Mahatma) Gandhi, (Jawaharlal) Nehru, (Rabindra Nath) Tagore, (Bhim Rao) Ambedkar or (Ram Manohar) Lohia,” Mishra said.

Expressing dismay at the condition of Pandey’s ancestral village, the RLD leader said, “It was heartbreaking to see the poor state of Nagwa and his family." The so-called memorial is just a walled enclosure overgrown with tall grass. It is deeply saddening that the birthplace of such a great hero is in such a state of neglect, he said.

He claimed that the family felt discriminated against. “They believe the neglect is because they were born in a Brahmin family. The same is the case with Chandrashekhar Azad’s and Ram Prasad Bismil’s families and memorials,” the RLD leader said.

Mishra said he would raise the matter with the Uttar Pradesh chief minister upon his return and would also write to the prime minister. “We are part of the government, and I hope my voice will be heard,” he added. PTI CORR ABN ABN RT RT RT