1,000 Assam youths to visit Cellular Jail as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav

Guwahati: The Assam government has decided to send 1,000 youths from the state to visit the Cellular Jail in Andaman and Nicobar Islands as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Thursday.

The youths will be sent on a mission to "imbibe the spirit of nationalism by drawing inspiration from the sacrifices of our brave freedom fighters", Sarma said in a tweet.

The Cellular Jail in Port Blair holds a special place in India's Independence movement as scores of freedom fighters were jailed there for revolting against the British Raj, he said, The chief minister, however, did not specify when the youths will go there.

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The three-storeyed prison, constructed by the British government in 1906, was a mute witness to the torture meted out to the freedom fighters. It is now a memorial. Sarma also paid his tributes to 74 CRPF employees from Assam “who sacrificed their lives in different states of the country since Independence".

"We feel so immensely proud of their supreme sacrifice and vow that each day of our lives is dedicated to building a brighter India, for which they laid down their lives. I bow in reverence to these brave hearts," he tweeted.