The BJP sponsored Vijay Utsav as part of the 75th Independence Day celebrations at Jagdishpur on April 23 will mark the birth anniversary of Veer Babu Kunwar Singh, the first freedom fighter against the Britishers in 1857 with a record flag hoisting of 75,000 national tricolours breaking the previous record of 60,000 flags hoisted in Lahore, Pakistan in March 2014.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be the chief guest at the mega event for which BJP had been making preparations for the last few weeks. State public works minister Nitin Navin, who is camping at Jagdishpur, claimed a team of the 'Guinness Book of world records' had reached Ara to count the flags on Saturday.
BJP had put posters and banners in Patna and all the routes leading to Jagdispur with union ministers and BJP leaders of Bihar being highlighted as sponsors. The JDU has kept itself away from the event. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will attend the official function at Patna's Veer Kunwar Singh Park which had replaced Lord Hardinge Park.
Veer Kunwar Singh fought against the British Army at the age of 80 and was successful in recapturing the Jagdishour Fort in 1858. He is considered one of the greatest Rajput warriors and his achievements are also a part of school textbooks in Bihar.
While the leaders of other castes have taken over the programme tomorrow, the Rajputs are not happy about the event. Rinku Singh, the mukhiya of Badgaon gram panchayat and head of the Bihar unit of Sri Rashtriya Karni Sena, regretted the celebrations that are being organised at Jagdishpur, where police the grandson of Veer Kunwar Singh was killed last month in police custody.
"This is the occasion of grief and not of celebrations," he said.
The Rajput community has further demanded to boycott the celebrations commenting, "there is no justification of celebrations in tragedy."
Bhojpur police had last month arrested four policemen accused of assaulting the youth who had opposed alleged illicit liquor business by the policemen deployed on the security of the historic Fort.
Kunwar Rohit Singh alias Babloo Singh was allegedly beaten to death in the police lockup on March 28, 2022. His mother Pushpa Singh had demanded the intervention of the Union Home Minister for a speedy trial of the arrested policemen.
