President of India, Mrs Pratibha Devi Singh Patil and UPA Chairperson Mrs Sonia Gandhi paid rich tributes to the true Gandhian, veteran freedom fighte

Feb 11- President of India, Mrs Pratibha Devi Singh Patil and UPA Chairperson Mrs Sonia Gandhi paid rich tributes to the true Gandhian, veteran freedom fighter and a former member of the Constituent Assembly of India, Ch Ranbir Singh in whose memory a "Shardhanjli Sabha" was organised on the occasion of his "Tehrvi" in Rohtak today. Mrs Pratibha Devi Singh Patil's condolence message addressed to the son of Ch Ranbir Singh, Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda was read by veteran Congress leader, Mr Moti Lal Vora. In her message, Mrs Patil said that she was deeply grieved to know about the passing away of Ch Ranbir Singh. He was an outstanding freedom fighter and a member of the Constituent Assembly of India. In his death the nation has lost a great patriot. She also conveyed her heartfelt condolences to the members of the bereaved family. In her condolence message addressed to Mrs Hardei Devi, wife of Ch Ranbir Singh, the UPA Chairperson, Mrs Sonia Gandhi had said that she was pained to know about the demise of Ch Ranbir Singh. She said that she could imagine that after having spent so many years of life together, how she must be feeling at this juncture. But this being the truth of life, one has to accept it. She also added that she herself and Prime Minister had recently honoured Ch Ranbir Singh, who was a part of the freedom struggle and the Constitution of India. He was also the only surviving member of the Constituent Assembly of India, but now this link has broken. " I pay tributes to such a great freedom fighter", added Mrs Sonia Gandhi. Her message was read by AICC General Secretary,Mr Janardhan Divedi. It was announced on the occasion that a number of Union Ministers, Governors, Chief Ministers, heads of a large number of social and religious organisations, freedom fighters, Judges, Army Officers and many others have sent their messages of condolences, but as it is not possible to read all these, the messages of President of India and that of UPA Chairperson were read out on the occasion. While paying his tributes to Ch Ranbir Singh, Acharya Gyaneshwar said that he was immortal, because he had followed high ideals of life and the will of God. He urged the people to introspect their deeds and try to follow high ideals of men like Ch Ranbir Singh. In a voice choked with emotions, Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda expressed his gratitude to all those who stood by him and the members of his family during the days of sickness of his father, Ch Ranbir Singh and also shared the bereavement of the family on the passing away of his father on February 1. Mr Hooda said that he had realised that "dukh" (sorrow) gets lightened on sharing it whereas "sukh" (happiness) gets enhanced when we share it with others. This, he said, is the reality of life and is what the Vedas preach. He said that he had experienced all aspects of the life of his father and he found in him a "devta" ( a pious person). Earlier, Maulvi Mohammad Rafiq, Father Stanely and Bhai Uttam Singh, representing three different religions of Islam, Christianity and Sikhism, recited scriptures of their respective religions and prayed that the departed soul might rest in peace. Bhai Uttam Singh and his group also recited a "shabd" (religious song). A documentary depicting various aspects of the life of Ch Ranbir Singh and his concern for farmers and weaker sections of the society was screened on the occasion. Dr Sita Sagar, who had come from Lucknow, paid rich tributes to Ch Ranbir Singh and spoke about his contribution to the freedom struggle of the country. She said that Ch Ranbir Singh went to different jails eight times. He was the first to demand the fixation of Minimum Support Price for agricultural produce of farmers. He was again the first to strongly advocate the need to make Haryana a separate State of the Indian Union to ensure its rapid development. A large number of people had come to the venue of the "Shrandhanjli Sabha" in Rohtak to pay their tributes to Ch Ranbir Singh. Ch Ranbir Singh had breathed his last at the age of 94 years at his residence in Rohtak on February 1. His last rites were performed at "Samvidhan Stahal" near IMT in Rohtak and his ashes were immersed in Bhakra Dam, his dream project, and at Hathni Kund Barrage near Yamunanagar so that these may flow to the fields of the farmers. Prominent among those who were present at the "Shardhanjli Sabha" included family members of Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda including his brothers, wife Mrs Asha Hooda and son MP Mr Deepender Singh Hooda, Union Minister of State for Home, Mr Jaiprakash Jaiswal, Union Water Resources Minister, Mr Saifudeen Soz, MPs namely Mr Jai Prakash, Mr Atam Singh Gill, Dr Arvind Sharma, President Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, Mr Phool Chand Mullana, Working President of HPCCI, Mr Kuldeep Sharma, Speaker Haryana Vidhan Sabha, Dr Raghuvir Singh Kadian, Haryana Ministers namely, Mr Birender Singh, Mr H.S.Chatha,Mrs Kartar Devi, Capt. Ajay Singh Yadav, Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala, Mr A.C.Chaudhary, Chief Parliamentary Secretaries namely, Mr Dharambir and Mr Ramesh Kaushik, Parliamentary Secretaries namely, Rao Dan Singh, Kumari Sharda Rathore, Mr Dura Ram, Dr Krishna Pandit,former Union Minister, Mr Buta Singh and Mr R.K.Dhawan and Mr I.D.Swami, Chief Secretary, Mr Dharam Vir, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Mr M.L.Tayal, DGP, Mr Ranjiv Dalal, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Mr K.K.Khandelwal, Political Adviser to Chief Minister, Prof. Virender, Media Advisor to Chief Minister, Mr Sunder Pal and other senior officers of the State Government and prominent personalities.