The government has launched a new look and feel to the popular tourist spot of the location of one of the gruesome remnants of British colonial rule, the Jallianwala Bagh. The renovated location has garnered mixed reactions from different sections of society. While some believe that this will generate more interest in our history, some like Indian National Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi claims that it is an insult to martyrs and their families.
The memorial site is a reminder of the atrocities committed upon the Indian population by the British. The site was the location where British Army Colonel Reginald Dyer opened fire upon peaceful protesters in Amritsar on the 13th of April 1919.
In April 1919, the areas of Lahore and Amritsar had been placed under martial law, to counter the numerous protests against the Rowlatt Act, which allowed the army to arrest, detain and jail people without a warrant or a trial. The order had not arrived yet in Amritsar where the people were out on the street to celebrate the Punjabi festival of Baisakhi. Most of them were making their way to the Golden Temple which was a huge part of their traditions.
By evening, many of the attendees had moved onto what we now know as Jallianwala Bagh where a meeting was being held to protest the arrest of Dr Satyapal and Dr Saifudeen Kitchlew. This garden or park had a narrow entrance/exit and was flanked by tall buildings on every side making it a semi-enclosed structure. Colonel Dyer on hearing of this gathering of people reached the location with his contingent of armed soldiers and blocked out the main entrance. He then gave the orders to start firing at the people, which the soldiers obliged by emptying all of the 1650 rounds of ammunition that they carried with them.
The British pegged the deaths at 300 while historians say that the actual numbers are more than 1000. The dead included men, women and children between the ages of 9 and 80. The whole international community was horrified by the event and even the pro-colonist rule British Prime Minister Winston Churchill remarked that this event was a “monstrosity”. Colonel Reginald Dyer was removed from his position in India and given a plush office job in England after a committee absolved him of all charges.
The committee that looks after the upkeep of the memorial was awarded 20 crore Indian rupees in 2019 to renovate the structure on the 100th anniversary of the gruesome day.  The new structure has added facilities for visitors like drinking water and toilets. Apart from this, the entry into the garden has been repositioned and decorated with figures symbolising the people who were martyred. The main shrine has now been enclosed within a lotus pond and the Martyr’s Well, where people jumped to escape the bullets has now been enclosed in a glass frame. There has also been an addition of a 20 minute light and sound show telling the story of the massacre and a mini-museum showcasing the life of the people of the area.
Our sources within the Ministry of Culture tells us that the government is quite pleased with the way the project has unfolded despite strong protests from various quarters of the country who believed that these new renovations are demeaning the sanctity of the place and its sad history.
Read the full article at: http://thedailyvanilla.com/2021/09/01/after-jallianwala-bagh-renovation-kalapani-jail-to-be-converted-into-theme-park/