Places to visit in Firozpur District

Indo-Pak Retreat Ceremony, Hussainiwala Border

Sun starts setting, the weird silence on the Hussainiwala border, 11 km away from Ferozepur, is ruptured by the clattering and thunderclap of heavy boots of the well-dressed in Kahki uniform, Indian BSF Jawans who equalize their counter part, the sound of Peshawari Chapples of salwar-kurta dressed Pakistani Rangers and both of them match their every movement, motion and step with each other, under the loud commands of their picket commanders for the 40-minute retreat ceremony done for the de-hoisting of the national flags of both countries with full honour and respect on every evening. The visit of any dignity, tourist, relative or a friend to this border district remained futile without paying their visit to joint check post at Hussianiwala, and those who visit here feel get a feeling of being present in the different world. The sound of patriot songs flying in the air, intensify the feeling of Patriotism among the audience and every action of these BSF heroes is applauded by the numberless claps by them, which also provide these nation- guards a feeling of honour. People from far away visit here to watch the robust BSF Jawans competing their counterpart to prove an edge over them. Even the tiding hatred amongst hearts of the people of the two countries, this retreat ceremony has remained to be a routine for years and years even though, there has been no legal compulsion on both the sides for the same. On Indian side this check post is about 100 feet from the Zero line and from Pak it is 600 feet away. The Check post on the Pakistan side is named as Ganda Singh Wala post. On both sides of the line at a distance of 15 feet Indo-Pak national flags hoist during the daytime. Just one km on the Indian side there are memorials of Shaihd Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev. Till 1962, this area remained with Pakistan and they cared little to raise any monuments in the memory of these great martyrs of India, who sacrificed their lives for the freedom for both the countries. It was in 1962, when India gave 12 villages near head Sulemanki (Fazilka) to Pakistan and in exchange got this martyr?s land. But the irony of the fate is that during 1971 Indo-Pak war, the statues of these very martyrs were removed and taken away by Pakistan army and have not been returned till today. It is worth mentioning that till 1970 there was no joint parade and retreat ceremony at this check post but one evening, Inspector General BSF, Ashwani Kumar Sharma, called upon both authorities to have joint retreat ceremony and since than it has become a tradition, which is every unique in itself.

The National Martyrs Memorial, Hussainiwala Border

National Martyrs Memorial Hussainiwala depicts an irrepressible revolutionary spirit of three National Martyrs namely S Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev who lit eternal flame of liberty by smilingly embracing martyrdom for the motherland. S Bhagat Singh and BK Dutt threw a Bomb in the Central Assembly hall New Delhi on April, 8 1929 to record their protest against the British rule in India. He and his two brave comrades Rajguru and Sukhdev were tried for shooting a British Police Officer Mr Saundras on the 17th December, 1928 These three revolutionaries were awarded death sentence. Following a hasty trial of the Lahore conspiracy case they were executed a day earlier than the hanging scheduled in the Central Jail Lahore at 7.15 PM on March 23,1931 The entire of Lahore was in the grip of National fervor and there were apprehensions of revolt. The Jail authorities broke the back wal of the Jail and secretly brought the dead bodies of S Bhaghat Singh and comrades here, on this spot at the bank of the river Sutlej for an unceremonial cremation. Mr B K Dutt died in Delhi on 19th July 1965 and as per his last will he was also cremated here.

Anglo Sikh War Memorial, Ferozeshah

No nation can afford to forget the martyrs and freedom fighters who kissed the gallows for attainment of freedom for all of us. It is out bounden duty to hold them in high esteem and perpetuate their memories by raising befitting memorials so that these could serve as a source of inspiration and courage for our future generations. It was with this background that the Punjab Government constructed an Anglo Sikh War Memorial at Ferozeshah to perpetuate the memory of the brave Punjabis who laid down their lives fighting heroically against the British troops at Mudki Ferozeshah Sabhraon and Chellianwala. It was in 1845 that the first encounter between the Sikhs and the British troops took place at Mudki on December,18,1845 The gallantry the discipline of the Sikhs in the fight evoked admiration even of the enemies. The second encounter took place at Ferozeshah on December, 21,22,1845 The British troops fighting under the command of their commander-in-chief Sir Charles Gaugh sustained such heavy losses that it created a furore in England. They had 748 killed out of which 54 were officers and 1625 wounded at Ferozeshah. Lord Hardings. Governor General supervised the battle of Ferozeshah. The third encounter took place at Sabhraon on February 10,1846 and the last battle was fought at Chellianwala on January 13,1849. The ultimate victory of the British was not due to their superiority over the Sikh troops but it was due to the faint heartedness of S Tej Singh and incompetence of Lal Singh the Sikh Generals. The British Commanders in chief lord Gaugh who personally supervised all these battles had recorded in his diary. The Policy prevented me from recording my personal sentiments of the splendid gallantry of the fallen foe and I declare were if not from a conviction that my country’s good required the sacrifice. I could have wept to have witnessed the fearful slaughters of so devoted a body. The three storied imposing building raised over a platform near the banks of the Rajasthan Canal and Sirhind Feeder on the GT Road has been designed by Mr H S Chopra Senior Architect Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana, under the guidance of DR MS Randhawa, the then Vice Chancellor who was also the Chairman f the Ferozeshah Memorial Committee set up by the Punjab Government. In the hall on the ground floor weapons relating to the period of the Anglo Sikh War are displayed. Quotes from WARS of Shah Mohammad and Cunningham’s History of the Sikhs are inscribed in Bronze. The Weapons have been donated by the Punjab Government from the Museum at Patiala. The hall has four paintings depicting the four battles of Mudki, Ferozeshah Sabhraon and Chellianwala. Mr Kirpal Singh a renowned artist prepared these paintings.

Chak Sarkar Forest

Chak Sarkar Forest situated in the South western corner of Punjab and bordering Pakistan in the west, the Forest Division of Ferozepur has the same boundary as that of the Revenue district of Ferozepur. It lies between 730 50? to 750 25? East longitude and 290 57? to 300 10? North Latitude. The total forest area of the district is 7064.50 ha, which comes to about 2.35% of the total geographical area. The type of forest found in the district can be broadly classified as Tropical Dry Deciduous Forest. Basically, there is little natural forest and in fact before the Forest Department took over management of these forests, they were in the shape of scattered patches and consist of scrub vegetation. There is also very little compact forest area and most of the so called forest area is in fact strips of land adjoining roads, canal (including distributaries, minors, escapes etc), drains, bundhs and railway lines which were declared as Protected Forest by the Punjab Government in 1953. However, ever since the declaration of certain areas as forests and their management was handed over to the Forest Department, there has been a lot of improvement in the overall scenario. Almost all the major roads, canals drains have been covered with plantations. Even the link roads have now been selected for plantation purposes. There is a block forest area near the village of Mumdot, called Chak Sarkar which has been declared as a Reserved Forest by the Government of Punjab. This is a compact area supporting some natural forest with the rest of the area being rehabilitated with artificial regeneration.

Barki Memorial

The Barki Memorial was constructed in 1969 to perpetuate the memory of the soldiers of the 7 Infantry Division who made the Supreme sacrifice on the battle field in 1965 and paved the way for the fall of Barki a town situated at a distance of 15 miles South East of Lahore. The foundation stone of this memorial was laid by Lt Gen Harbakhsh Singh VC on September 11,1969 and unveiling ceremony was performed by Lt Gen HK Sibal MVC. The memorial which now forms a part of Saragarhi Complex has a pillar in the centre, a Patten tank and a Barki mile stone on the south and a water fountain on the North The pillar is 27 feet high and is built of red and white sand stone and gneise. The mouldings and relief carvings are in the classical Indian architectural style. The fountain denotes symbolically that the memory of those who laid down their lives will for ever remain green and lush by an abundant spray of water.

Harike Wild Life Sanctuary

Harike is one of the most important Wild Life Sanctuaries of not Only Punjab but also of India being recognized throughout the world. Situated on the confluence of the river Beas and Sutlez at the Ferozepur and Amritsar border the sanctuary encompass an area of approximately 86 sq km. The area was declared as a Wild Life Sanctuary in 1999 and because of its importance as a wetland of international stature, it was declared a Ramsar site by the International Body of Wetlands under the UNDP in 1990.

The sanctuary is a bird watchers paradise and attracts thousands of migratory birds during winter, some from as far off as Siberia and the Arctic. It is a refuge for a large number of resident and migratory birds. Some 45,000 ducks have been recorded here during the peak migratory season. The wigeon, common teal, pintail, shoveller and brahminy ducks are commonly seen during the winter. The lake is particularly famous for diving ducks, such as the crested pochard, common pochard and tufted ducks which occur in very large numbers. Around 375 bird species have been recorded; 40 species were long distance migrants which pass through or winter at Harike lake. Apart from avifauna, some 7 species of turtle and 26 species of fish have been recorded. The mammals found at Harike include the smooth Indian otter, the jungle cat, jackal, Indian wild boar and the common mongoose.

Saragarhi Memorial

Saragarhi Memorial Gurudwara has been built in the memory of 21 Sikh soldiers of the 36 Sikh Regiment who fell in heroic defence of Fort Saragarhi in Wazirstan on September, 12 1897 while defending the fort against an attack of ten thousand Pathans. The 36 Sikh Regiment was raised at FIROZPUR on April 1887 under the command of Colonel Cook in January 1897 the Regiment was sent to Fort Lock Hard of which Saragarhi and Gulistan were important posts On the morning of September, 12 about ten thousand pathans surrounding Saragarhi and taking positions within one thousand yards of the fort opened fire. There were only 21 Sikh soldiers in the fort who returned fire as outside help was out of question. Sepoy Gurmukh Singh Hallo-graphed to his commander Colonel Naughten that their fort had been attacked by the enemy. On order from the commander these soldiers continued to return fire. The battle continued for seven hours and then the Sikhs fell one by one. At about 2 PM the Garrison began to run out of ammunition and a request was made to the colonel for more supplies. NO supplies came but the soldiers were told to stick to their guns. In the meantime the Pathans asked the Sikh soldiers to surrender but they preferred to die fighting. In the end the leader of the brave band Havildar Ishar Singh was left alone. With consummate coolness regardless of the bullets whistling around his head Havildar Ishar Singhhad kept up haliographic communication with Fort Lockhart. According to a contemporary Army Authority Havildar Ishar Singh the only man alive and unwounded out of the little band taking his rifle placed himself in the front of a doorway leading from the room into which the enemy had forced their way, prepared to sustain the fight along calmly and steadily. He loaded his rifle and delivered the fire. Unconquered even in death the Sikh War cry rang from his dying lips in defiance of the foe. Then followed silence broken only by the crackling of flames. The memorial Gurdwara at Ferozepur was built at a cost of Rs, 27,118 by the Army Authorities to honour these brave soldiers. The gurudwara was declared open in 1904 by Sir Charles Pevz, the then Lieutenant Governor of Punjab. Every year on September, 12 a religious congregation is held in the morning while reunion of Ex-servicemen in the evening.

Gurudwara Shri Jaamani Sahib

Gurudwara Shri Jaamani Sahib is situated in Village Bazidpur, district Ferozepur. It is situated on the Ferozepur-Ludhiana Road, Just 8 km from Ferozepur City. shri guru gobind sing ji  came here after battle of Muktsar Sahib. A Jatt Farmer had borrowed some money from Brahmin on the gaurantee of guru sahib. But he had not returned the money and had passed away. In his second life he became a tittar (Bird) and Brahmin became Baaz (Hawk Bird). When guru sahib came here he got tittar bird killed from Baaz and got himself free from gaurantee he had given in that case.

Source : https://ferozepur.nic.in/tourist-places/