Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
New Delhi
Acrimonious debate on the contribution of political leaders to the freedom struggle preceded the passage of The Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Amendment Bill-2019 by the Lok Sabha today with the opposition Congress, TMC, DMK and NCP walking out in protest.
The Bill removes Congress president as a trustee of the Jallianwala Memorial with Culture Minister Prahlad Patel arguing that the BJP-led NDA government wanted to “de-politicise” memorials and “nationalise them”.
Patel, replying to a three-hour debate, said while history should not be rewritten, it should be reviewed to give all freedom fighters their due.
“Doesn’t the Congress want others to get their rightful space in history? There are no memorials for countless people who sacrificed their lives for the nation. It’s unfortunate that the debate today could not transcend politics. There is nothing in the Bill to hurt anyone. For the Congress Jallianwala Memorial can be a memorial but for usit is a symbol of sacrifices,” the minister said saluting the memory of Shaheed Udham Singh who killed Michael O Dyer, the Governor of Punjab province at the time of the tragedy.
The minister also lamented that the Congress took over 40 years to replace Jawahar Lal Nehru, Sardar Patel and Saifiddin Kichlu as permanent trustees of the Jallianwala Memorial. The replacements happened in 2006 long after the leaders died.
Earlier today, the debate witnessed bitter clashes between Akali Dal MP and minister Harsimrat Badal and Congress leaders after the former flashed a telegram purportedly sent by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s grandfather to Col Reginald Dyer who ordered the massacre at Jallianwala Bagh on April 13, 1919.
“The sender says in the telegram to Dyer — you have done the correct thing and Governor General approves. It is ironical that those who hailed the man who massacred Indians are defaming others. Congress’ history is of Sikh killings. For what they did to Harmandar Saheb, they should not just be banished from the Jallianwala Memorial, they should be banished from the country also,” a combative Harsimrat said riling Congress MPs who shouted her down and cited rules to say she can’t ame persons that are not present in the House (namely Amarinder Singh).
Harsimrat’s provocation stemmed from Congress’ Amritsar MP Gurjit Aujla’s accusation that her ancestors (he named Sundar Singh Majithia) hosted Dyer for dinner after the tragedy and honoured him at the Golden Temple. “Give me proof like I am giving you,” Harsimrat said.
Aujla who opened the debate today demanded that the Bill be withdrawn saying the Congress president had earned his place in the trust on account of sacrifices by party leaders in the freedom struggle. He said the Jallianwala Bagh gathering itself was in response to a call by Congress leaders and that after the tragedy it was the Congress leaders who spent Rs 10 lakh to buy the land and set up a trust in the memory of the martyrs.
“You are out to erase history because you have none of your own. RSS leaders never even unfurled the Tricolour in 1929 when the Congress asked them, nor did they participate in the Satyagraha,” Aujla said as the debate saw several opposition MPs questioning the contributions of the RSS to the freedom movement.
Speaker Om Birla ordered deletion of all references to the RSS under the same rule which Congress was citing to keep Harsimrat from speaking.
The amendment
- The Bill amends the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Trust Act-1951, which provided for the Congress president to be an ex-officio trustee of the memorial. The amended Bill removes this clause dropping statutory presence of the Congress president in the memorial trust
- Replaces “Leader of Opposition in LS” with “Leader of the largest opposition party in LS” as a memorial trust member. This means Congress LS leader Adhir Chowdhury will be nominated as a trust member
The memorial belongs to everyone and should be set free of political shackles of both the Congress and the BJP. Minister Harsimrat Badal’s ancestors had hosted dinner for Reginald Dyer after the massacre. —Bhagwant Mann, AAP MP from Sangrur
