At site identified for a memorial
Walking through Budheda to identify prospective site of a martyrs memorial
Walking through Budheda to identify prospective site of a martyrs memorial
With farmers at freedom struggle village of Bichpuri
With residents of freedom struggle village of Bali
With residents of the freedom struggle village of Budhera
On 23rd of April, 2017, went on a tour of a cluster of Gurjar villages of Dist. Baghpat which had participated in the Great Uprising of 1857. On one of the primary villages named Bichpuri, Dunlop writes in 1858 - `'Ihen came to the Goorjur village of Bichpooree; this had taken an active part in all Sah Mull's misdoings, and deserved destruction .... number of armed men were leaving it as I arrived'
The villages covered in this trip included Nimbali, Budhera, Bali and Nirojpur. It was decided that martyr’s memorials will be raised in all these villages and they should be designated `freedom struggle’ villages from now on, as in colonial times they were called `bagi’or rebel villages which at that time was used as a negative connotation. We also met families of two leaders of the Great Uprising, Gulab Singh and Achal Singh Gurjar.
At village Nimbali we met descendents of Sri. Gulab Singh Gurjar who was one of the leaders of the Uprising of 1857 in the region. Recorded memories of the patriarch of the family who is sitting in the foreground, including how Gulab Singh was found and martyred by the colonial forces.
At freedom struggle village of Budhera we were told about the suffering of the residents of the village as all their land & properties were confiscated and auctioned off because of their having participated in the Uprising of 1857.
The site of a martyr's memorial was finalised at the Gurjar freedom struggle village of Bali. A European gentleman of French descent developed an estate in the village out of the lands of the village which were confiscated by the colonialists as a punishment for their participation in the Uprising of 1857.