Ribbon cutting for first school in the nation to be named after a Punjabi Sikh human rights activist

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The authoritative ribbon cutting was held for a marque caller simple schoolhouse successful the Central Unified School District and the sanction of the schoolhouse is making history.

The greeting started with a vibrant creation to footwear disconnected the festivities.

It was lasting country lone arsenic the Central Unified School District celebrated its newest simple school acceptable to unfastened this fall.

It's the archetypal successful the federation to beryllium named aft a Punjabi individual, Sikh quality rights activistic Jaswant Singh Khalra.

In 1995, helium was abducted, tortured and killed by the forces helium tried to clasp accountable.

"Jaswant Singh Khalra stood up for justness adjacent erstwhile it outgo him everything." Interim Superintendent Eimear O'Brien said.

Khalra's family, including his woman and daughter, were successful attendance.

The territory honored them with a cardinal to the schoolhouse earlier officially cutting the ribbon.

The Khalra household led the mode wrong and Principal Raul Diaz gave the household a tour.

The hallways were lined with balloons successful schoolhouse colors starring visitors to classrooms and the aboriginal library.

The much than 600 aboriginal TK to 6th people students volition beryllium known arsenic the Royals and symbolized with a lion.

Diaz says it's meant to punctual students to beryllium courageous, basal up for what is right, and instrumentality attraction of each othe- conscionable similar Khalra.

"We privation to marque definite that our family, our families, consciousness connected, and our assemblage feels welcome, and this is going to beryllium a hub of transportation for our families," Diaz said.

Empty desks and play kitchens await the smallest students.

Down the hall, there's a invited motion for the bigger kids.

The girl of the precocious Jaswant Singh Khalra says she moved to Fresno successful 2009 and graduated from Fresno State.

She inactive considers this home.

"I'm conscionable honored that the archetypal municipality that I moved into, it has fixed truthful overmuch designation to my household and to my father," Navkiran Kaur said.

The schoolhouse committee president encouraged staff, administrators and the assemblage to thatch each pupil to unrecorded their lives similar Khalra did.

"Let america archer the children, 'Speak erstwhile adjacent your dependable trembles. Stand, adjacent erstwhile your knees shake. Love adjacent erstwhile the satellite forgets how,'" Board President Naindeep Singh Chann said.

For quality updates, travel Jessica Harrington connected Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.