The 22-acre Shahid Smarak at Ambala to showcase Haryana’s ‘lead role’ in India’s first War of Independence; impetus came from old telegrams discovered by historian KC Yadav, which he presented to claim that 1857 revolt actually began in Ambala.
The Haryana government believes that the Shahid Smarak would highlight that it was Ambala, and not Meerut, from where the 1857 uprising actually began, which culminated in India attaining Independence in 1947.
“The objective of constructing a war memorial in Ambala is to immortalise the bravery of those unsung heroes who never got credit for scripting the first revolt (against the British). It will also highlight Haryana’s contribution to the freedom struggle with a special emphasis on revolt incidents at Ambala,” says a senior Haryana government official.
Chandigarh-based architect-designer Renu Khanna, who earlier built Ambala Gate and Chhapar Chiri War Memorial near Chandigarh, was commissioned to build the memorial. “The project is in its final stages and is likely to be completed in 2022. Besides the museum of objects related to the unsung heroes from Haryana and their role in 1857, there will be a memorial, a library, an interpretation centre, a huge parking space and a helipad,” Khanna tells the Indian Express.
“We call this mutiny, but that is from the point of view of the Britishers, but from an Indian perspective, it should be called the first War of Independence,” Khanna says.