Bhagat Singh should be given Bharat Ratna: Sukhbir Badal

Chandigarh, March 23 (IANS) Punjab's Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday demanded that freedom struggle hero Bhagat Singh be given the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.

Badal, who is the Shiromani Akali Dal president, said he will soon write to the central government to seek Bharat Ratna for Bhagat Singh.

Badal raised the demand at a function to mark the martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh at his ancestral village of Khatkar Kalan, 80 km from here.

Khatkar Kalan, located along the Jalandhar-Chandigarh highway, is the ancestral village of Bhagat Singh from his maternal side. He spent a few years of his life here.

The village has the house of his maternal grandfather, which has been turned into a monument, as well as a museum in the memory of Bhagat Singh.