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Udham Singhs Heer in for a makeover |
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Written by Jyotika Sood and Anuradha Shukla, Tribune News Service
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Thursday, 26 July 2007 |
 Jalandhar.
Love folklore “Heer”, made immortal by Waris Shah, was the most prized possession of martyr Udham Singh. So dear was the book to Udham Singh that he wanted to take it with him to take oath during his trail after murdering Gen Michael O'Dwyer to avenge the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
The original copy of the book has been lying in Bhai Santokh Singh Library of Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall in Jalandhar for the past over 30 years. Now, it is time for it to come out of the library’s shelf and get a makeover as the martyr’s death anniversary approaches on July 31.
The Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall Committee is getting ready to preserve the book for future generations. Soon, the pages of the precious book will be laminated and kept for public viewing, says library in charge Chiranji Lal.
The book was donated to the library by Sohan Singh, son of Udham Singh’s friend Karam Singh Cheema, in the UK. Udham Singh lived with him there and had given him his book. The book also bears two signatures by him on page number 282. A few pages of Udham Singh’s book are missing. “Some pages of the book have been missing ever since it came to the library and we are now going to preserve the book’s pages by getting them laminated to save it from further degradation. The book will first be scanned on computer to make a soft copy for reference and the original copy will be preserved like a sacred book,” added Lal.
“On Udham Singh’s martyrdom day, the book will be available for special viewing,” he added.
The martyr expressed his desire to take oath of the book during his trial hearings in the UK. He had asked his friends to send him this book from prison.aIn his letter to his friend, whom he addressed as M. Singh, written from the hospital of the Brixton prison on April 6, 1940, he expressed his desire to take oath of the book Heer by Waris Shah. In the letter, Udham Singh, who signed his name as Ram Mohammed Singh Azad and MSA in sort, said his name had apparently been changed to Udham Singh in the House of Commons by Chamberlain (the then Prime Minister), according to the letter.
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