Bhubaneswar: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has urged Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav to take steps for installation of a memorial of Veer Surendra Sai at Asirgarh fort.
Pradhan today wrote a letter to Yadav in this regard after receiving several petitions from Surendra Sai Statue Installation Committee and Odisha Sanskrutika Samaj, Sambalpur, for installation of a memorial of the legendary freedom fighter at Asirgarh fort in Madhya Pradesh.
Surendra Sai along with the local zamindars and members of the tribal communities had revolted against the British government in India following the annexation Sambalpur to the foreign rule through the ‘Doctrine of Lapse’ in 1849.
They fought against the Britishers through guerrilla warfare from 1857 to 1862.
Sai along with his son Mitrabhanu and three of his brothers—Udanta, Dhrub and Medini—were jailed at Asirgarh fort soon after the Britishers crushed the 1957 revolt in India.
Sai spent at least 37 years in the prison before his death on February 28, 1884. Sai’s brother Udanta spent around 47 years in the jail and he died in 1894, Pradhan wrote in his letter to the MP Chief Minister.
Installation of a memorial with a life-sized horse-riding statue of Surendra Sai at Asirgarh fort would be a befitting tribute to the legendary freedom fighter and his associates, Pradhan said in his letter.
“On behalf of the people of Odisha, I would like to request you to look into the matter at the personal level and take steps for installation of a memorial and statue of Veer Surendra Sai at Asirgarh fort,” Pradhan wrote in his letter to Yadav.
