New Delhi, September 26: A Pakistan-based outfit has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, for freedom fighter Bhagat Singh. The Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation has urged PM Narendra Modi to accord Bharat Ratna posthumously to Bhagat Singh on his 112th birth anniversary, which falls on September 28. Bhagat Singh's 88th Death Anniversary Observed in Pakistan.

Imtiaz Rashid Qureshi, who is the chairman of the foundation, handed over the letter to Deputy High Commissioner of India in Pakistan, Gauray Ahluwalia, on Wednesday. "We have come to know that Narendra Modi had immense respect for the martyr and he had gone to Hussainiwala near Ferozepur in Indian Punjab on March 23, 2015, to pay tributes to Bhagat Singh and his comrades on 84th martyrdom day," Qureshi was quoted by TOI as saying. Bhagat Singh's Appropriation by Socio-Political Right — Blunder of History?.

"We want Modi government to announce Bharat Ratna to Bhagat Singh on his birth anniversary," Qureshi, who is fighting to prove the innocence of Bhagat Singh in the murder of British police official John Saunders, added. He had moved the Lahore High Court seeking to reopen of the Saunders' murder case to prove that Bhagat Singh was "innocent". He said that the first information report (FIR) registered in the case did not name Bhagat Singh.

"Written in Urdu, the FIR was registered at 4.30 p.m. on December 17, 1928, against two unknown gunmen. The names of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru are nowhere in the FIR," Qureshi had said. He is hopeful that if the court in Pakistan sets aside the verdict against Bhagat Singh, the British government could be pressured to tender an apology for the "sham trial".

Qureshi had earlier filed a petition in the Lahore High Court to rename Lahore's Shadman Chowk as 'Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chowk'. The chowk was once a part of the Lahore Jail where the trio were hanged by the British.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 26, 2019 11:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).