Describing the newly renovated Jallianwala Bagh Smarak as atribute to the great martyrs and a symbol of inspiration for the youth, PunjabChief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday said the monument must serveas a reminder for the future generations about the right of the people topeaceful democratic protest.
In what was apparently an oblique reference to the ongoingagitation of the peacefully protesting farmers, the Chief Minister said theSmarak, along with the Jallianwala Bagh centenary memorial recently dedicatedto the people by the state government, should serve to remind our leaders ofthe inalienable right of Indians to conduct peaceful democratic protests, whichcould not be stifled, as the British also learnt from the Jallianwala Baghincident.
The Smarak and the Centenary Memorial established by thestate government “seek to pay tribute to the great martyrs so that history mayalways remember their sacrifice and our present and future generations can drawinspiration from their patriotism,” said the Chief Minister, in his briefremarks before Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually dedicated the JallianwalaBagh National Memorial (Smarak) to the nation through the remote.
Captain Amarinder also requested the Prime Minister that theGovernment of India should use its good offices to bring back the personaleffects, i.e. pistol and personal diary of Shaheed Udham Singh Ji, who avengedthe injustice of this massacre, from United Kingdom to India. He said he hadalready written to External Affairs Minister Dr. Jaishankar in this regard.
The event was also attended, among others, by several union ministers, Punjab Governor,Leader of the Opposition and the Jallianwala Bagh trustees, along with severalMPs and MLAs. Families of the Jallianwala massacre martyrs were also present.
The occasion was marked by a 2-minute silence in the memoryof the martyrs, following the sounding of the bugle.
Describing the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial as “aneverlasting symbol of non-violent and peaceful struggle for the freedom ofIndia”, the Chief Minister said that “at another level, it also standstestimony to one of the most barbaric acts of violence and State oppressionperpetrated on a group of peacefully assembled people.”
The killing of hundreds of innocent people on the fatefulday of Baisakhi on 13 April 1919, shook the moral conscience of not only theentire nation but the whole world, he said, adding that the “Khooni Vasakhi”,as the Punjabi poet Nanak Singh who was himself a survivor called it, soundedthe death knell of the British Rule in India. He pointed out that incensed by the inhuman act, Gurudev RabindranathTagore had renounced his knighthood in protest.
The Jallianwala Bagh is one of the historic landmarks ofAmritsar for the lakhs of tourists and pilgrims who visit the Holy City, saidthe Chief Minister, expressing happiness that, as the nation observes thecentenary of the tragedy, the Ministry of Culture had taken up majorupgradation of this memorial and given it more technology-oriented displays,including a sound and light show which will draw more people.
Recalling that the story of this sacred monument started inthe aftermath of the tragedy, when a resolution was passed in 1920 to build amemorial at the site and subsequently land was purchased by the Trustees, theChief Minister said that in 1951, soon after India gained independence, theGovernment declared it as a “memorial of national importance”.
Captain Amarinder observed that the State Government hadalso recently, on 14 August 2021, dedicated a Jallianwala Bagh CentenaryMemorial, at a separate location in Amritsar, as a tribute to the great martyrsto commemorate the Centenary. The said memorial bears the names of all 488martyrs available as per records, he said, adding that his government had alsoconstituted a Special Research team of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, toidentify any missing names of martyrs that need to be inscribed on thismemorial, for which sufficient space has been left.