By IANS
New Delhi : To mark the 150th anniversary of the 1857 uprising, 30,000 people will march from Meerut over five days to reach the historic Red Fort in Delhi on May 11 for a grand celebration, Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh said Thursday.
Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar would flag off the rally from Meerut May 7. It would cover a distance of 60 km.
President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi would be among those to attend the programme at Red Fort.
Former prime ministers A.B. Vajpayee, V.P Singh, H.D. Deve Gowda, Chandra Shekhar and I.K. Gujral have been invited and also many freedom fighters.
“It will be a fitting start to the commemoration of the first war of independence,” Singh told reporters.
Deviating from his party’s earlier stand that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had no role to play in the freedom movement, Singh, who heads the implementation committee for the celebrations, said that the National Democratic Alliance constituents had an important place in the political scenario.
“This is not a time to go into an analysis on whether the BJP had participated in the freedom movement or not.”
The government had sanctioned Rs.1.5 billion for celebrations to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the uprising.
There would also be special functions at the Red Fort and Vijay Chowk on Aug 15 and commemoration of the Quit India Movement in Mumbai on Aug 9. Singh also unveiled a logo of the event.