Chandigarh November 18: Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal today unveiled the statues of three great personalities and renowned litterateurs namely Mahakavi Surdas, Babu Balmukund Gupt and Surya Kavi Pandit Lakhmi Chand and urged the young generations to follow the path shown by them and work to further applaud our age old rich culture and tradition. On this occasion, the Chief Minister also announced that he would soon visit Sihi in district Faridabad the native village of Mahakavi Surdas, Gudiani in district Rewari the native village of Babu Balmukund Gupt and Janti Kalan of district Sonipat the native village of Suryakavi Pandit Lakhmi Chand to pay tributes to the great personalities.
Mr Manohar Lal unveiled the statues installed at the campus of Haryana Sahitya Akademi, Panchkula through video conferencing here today.
While Speaker, Haryana Vidhan Sabha Mr Gian Chand Gupta and Additional Chief Secretary, Information, Public Relations and Languages Department, Mrs. Dheera Khandelwal were present at the Haryana Sahitya Akademi, Panchkula, Director General, Information, Public Relations and Languages Department, Mr P.C. Meena was present here at Chandigarh. On this occasion, Mr Meena felicitated the Chief Minister by presenting him a shawl and memento.
Addressing the litterateurs and writers present on the occasion, Mr Manohar Lal said that Mahakavi Surdas, Babu Balmukund Gupt and Surya Kavi Pandit Lakhmi Chand are the sons of Haryana and have devoted their lives to awaken the society. He said that statues of these great personalities would keep their memories alive and at the same time would also inspire our future generations to draw inspiration from their life values, ideals and principles. He said that their literature is an invaluable heritage of the country and society and it is the duty and responsibility of all of us to keep it safe as it would benefit not only the present but also the generations to come.
Throwing light on the life of three great litterateurs, the Chief Minister said that among the devotional poets of Hindi literature, the place of Mahakavi Surdas is paramount. He was an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna. Similarly, Babu Balmukund Gupt was a great litterateur, journalist and heroic soldier of the Indian freedom struggle, who challenged the British rule through his writing. Suryakavi Pandit Lakhmi Chand also worked to awaken the self-esteem of Indians through folk literature, reestablishing the pride of ancient culture of India at the time of independence, he added.
Mr Manohar Lal said that Pandit Lakhmi Chand and Babu Balmukund Gupt left for heavenly abode at the tender age of 42 years, but in such a short time they did that for which they would be remembered for centuries.
He said that Mahakavi Surdas is considered the emperor of Vatsalya Rasa. He has so vividly described Lord Sri Krishna's childhood pastimes that the person reading his literature or listening to his poetry gets lost in it. Even though they are not among us today, their creations would continue to guide people for ages, he said adding that his contribution to literature is considered the greatest.
The Chief Minister said that Babu Balmukund Gupt was a freedom fighter, great litterateur, skilled editor and a quality journalist. He is considered the father of Hindi journalism. Through his authorship, he gave a new life to the freedom movement. He said that Balmukund Gupt is also considered the father of satirical journalism in Indian journalism. He gave sleepless nights to the then Governor Lord Curzon by writing a satirical article against the British government called "Shivshambhu Ke Chitthe' . National interest was paramount for Gupt and his contribution in the field of independence, hindi literature and hindi journalism is a source of inspiration for all of us.
He said that Pandit Lakhmi Chand is counted among the great litterateurs like Mahakavi Kalidas and Shakespeare. His compositions are life lessons for us and also motivate us to move forward. He said that Pandit Lakhmi Chand had composed over 500 new rhythms and melodies. From 1920 to 1945, he performed Sangs in about a thousand villages and military cantonments. More than a thousand schools, ponds, dharamshalas, chaupals and gaushalas were constructed in the villages with the donations collected from their Sangs.
Speaker, Haryana Vidhan Sabha, Mr Gian Chand Gupta who was present at the Akademy Campus in Panchkula said that it is a matter of pride that Panchkula is fast emerging as a cultural capital. He said that it has become possible as a result of the farsighted approach of Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal. Mr Gupta said that it is a momentous occasion for the writers, litterateur and journalists as they have become the witness of this historic event. He assured that Panchkula would continue to contribute significantly in the field of art and culture.
Additional Chief Secretary, Information, Public Relations and Languages Department, Mrs. Dheera Khandelwal said that it is the only present State Government under the able and dynamic leadership of Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal which has created a separate Art and Culture Department and sanctioned 153 new posts. Apart from this, awards of different categories have also been instituted for the artists and litterateurs. On this occasion, she also appreciated the skill and craftsmanship of Mr. Ram Pratap Verma for constructing lively statues of the three great personalities.
She said that Haryana has two suns, Mahakavi Surdas and Surya Kavi Pandit Lakhmi Chand as well as the proud privilege of being the home state of Babu Balmukund Gupt who inspired love in the hearts of the youth towards the nation. She said that Pandit Lakhmi Chand has played a significant role in promoting Haryanvi language.
Director, Haryana Sahitya Akedemi, Dr Chander Trikha assured that the Akedemi would continue to honour writers and litterateur in recognition of their outstanding contribution in further promoting our rich culture and tradition.
Among those present on this occasion included Vice President of Granth Akedemi, Prof. Virendra Chauhan, Vice-Chairman of Punjabi Sahitya Akedemi Mr. Gurvinder Singh Dhamija, Director of Sanskrit Akedemi Mr. Dinesh Shastri, litterateurs other dignitaries .