The Chandigarh airport will be named after Shaheed Bhagat Singh. This announcement was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mann Ki Baat on Sunday. Modi said as a tribute to the great freedom fighter, it has been decided that the Chandigarh airport will now be named after Shaheed Bhagat Singh. Modi said that the Chandigarh airport will be renamed on the occasion of Bhagat Singh’s birth anniversary on September 28. PM Modi pays tribute to Deendayal Upadhyay on his birthday today in his 93rd monthly radio program.
Martyrs’ memorials, places and institutions named after them inspire us for duty. Just a few days ago, the country made a similar effort by installing a statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose on the path of duty. The name of Chandigarh Airport after Shaheed Bhagat Singh is another step in this direction.
There was a long-standing dispute between Punjab and Haryana over the name of this airport, because apart from the central government, Punjab and Haryana also have a stake in its construction. The central government has been promoting the name of this airport as Chandigarh Airport, while the Punjab government has been calling it Mohali International Airport.
In 2007, on the birth centenary celebrations of Bhagat Singh, the Punjab government had announced the renaming of the Chandigarh airport as Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh. At the same time, the Haryana government wanted to name this airport after Mangal Sein.
Punjab and Haryana could never reach a consensus on this name. The matter between the two states also reached the Punjab and Haryana High Court, where both the states were instructed to sit together and resolve the issue. Subsequently, in August, Punjab and Haryana agreed to rename Chandigarh’s international airport after Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala reached an agreement on the issue.