New Delhi: For exactly a year now, 100 portraits of Indian freedom fighter painted in blood have been waiting to be put up in Jalianwala Bagh and Red Fort.
Last Independence Day, plans to honour the efforts of India’s freedom fighters were in place but they never saw the light of day. Shaheed Smriti Chetna Samiti, a Delhi-based organisation working to highlight the efforts made by freedom fighters, was in talks with the Union tourism ministry and Punjab's tourism ministry, but they are yet to receive permission.
"Our NGO members and I have donated blood for this. I, in fact, have donated two units of blood. We are going to meet the tourism minister of Punjab again regarding this. We have already spoken to other officials in the ministry. The central ministry has asked us to wait until renovation work is complete in the Red Fort," said Prem Kumar Shukla, president, Shaheed Smriti Chetna Samiti.
The organisation's idea of painting portraits of freedom fighters in blood dates back to 1997 when their founder, late Ravi Chandra Gupta, for the first time got Subhash Chandra Bose's portrait made with his own blood. Since then, the 'samiti' donates blood for the cause.
The organisation requests the city's top painters to help them with the task. The collected blood is mixed with anti-clotting material to keep them in a fluid state. After this, canvases are especially prepared to hold blood as paint. The blood usually takes longer to dry.
"We do this only as a mark of respect for people who shed blood for us. It is our own way of giving back something," added Shukla.
This is the same organsation which put up portraits at Delhi's legislative assembly of 70 individuals who were key figures in the struggle for independence.
Portraits include those of freedom fighters Ashfaqulla Khan and Bhagat Singh, Birsa Munda, Rani Chennamma and Subhas Chandra Bose. Officials said each portrait is representative of one assembly constituency.
However, one portrait in particular — that of Tipu Sultan — became a point of contention.
Manjinder Singh Sirsa, BJP-SAD MLA from Rajouri Garden, had then said, “I asked them (Delhi government), why include someone who is controversial? Why not include people who are from Delhi? Why put someone’s portrait in the Delhi Assembly, who has not contributed in any way to Delhi or its history?”
The Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi, however, said it had asked the BJP to suggest names from their party or the RSS. “We asked the BJP and their MLAs to suggest names from either their party or the RSS who had worked for the freedom struggle. But they couldn’t come up with any,” claimed Saurabh Bhardwaj, AAP MLA and spokesperson.
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