Saragarhi Day is celebrated every year on September 12 to mark the sacrifice of the 22 soldiers belonging to the 36 Sikh Regiment who died while defending the post of Saragarhi at Lockhart Fort from a group of around 10,000 tribesmen. However, over the years, the function, which used to be organised with lot of fervor, has itself become a martyr of government's apathy.
What used to be a state-level commemoration day function is now restricted to merely a formal ceremony where the civil, police and Army officials, besides some ex-servicemen, come and pay obeisance at the memorial.
Earlier, the function used to held on a larger scale with the Chief Minister along with a battery of Cabinet ministers, MLAs, senior Army functionaries (both serving and retired) remaining present. The valiant soldiers were posthumously awarded the "Indian Order of Merit" by the British rulers.
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