Rectify Jallianwala Bagh facelift ‘lapses’ to avoid flak, Trustee asks Centre

GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, September 10

Amid criticism over the alleged tinkering with the original character of the Jallianwala Bagh during its renovation, the former MP and one of the trustees of the Prime Minister-led Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Trust, Tarlochan Singh, has approached the Centre to rectify the shortcomings.

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Observing several lapses, Singh said he had written to the Union Ministry of Culture, under whose supervision the first phase of renovation worth Rs 20 crore was executed in the Bagh, so that negative publicity could be avoided. Though the work was done in collaboration with the Archaeological Survey of India, there remained some lapses, he said.

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He demanded the murals erected on the walls of the narrow street from where General Reginald Dyer passed through with his troops be removed and it should be restored as it was.

Sentiments hurt, probe Rs 20-crore project: Laxmi Kanta Chawla

• Expressing discontent over the facelift of Jallianwala Bagh, BJP senior leader and former minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla has sought PM Narendra Modi’s intervention in reinstating the significance of the site
• She said the way renovation was done in the name of beautification had ended up hurting the patriotic sentiments of people
• In an open letter to the PM, she demanded an investigation into the Rs20-crore expenditure on the project
• She pointed out that the martyrs’ well now looked like a glass-wrapped box. “I have appealed to the PM to engage engineers and technical persons to restore the Bagh’s originality,” she said

Another major blunder was to introduce a new ‘exit’ passage. “This itself belies the history as there was a single entry and exit passage and people got stuck up in the absence of any other exit. Had there been a passage to go out, people would have run out of the Bagh. So, the new exit gate has to be closed,” he said.

He also pointed out that the pyramid-like small pedestal depicting the place of firing was replaced with just a marker on the floor which was hardly visible. It should be rebuilt again.

“Many doors and windows of the historic office building have been removed. I have requested to examine the old photographs and make them look like the same,” he said.

He said there would be no entry fee to the Bagh, but the e-ticketing machines and the ticket counters built at the entrance raised suspicion. “I have requested to remove the ticket counter structure and the e-ticketing machines”, he said.

The martyrs’ families demanded the pictures of their forefathers, who sacrificed their lives, to be reinstalled. “This was also a genuine demand and I have requested to place their photographs”, he said.

‘Remove murals, rebuild pedestal’

Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Trust member Tarlochan Singh has urged the Centre to remove murals erected on the walls of the narrow street, close the new exit gate, rebuild pedestal depicting the place of firing, reinstall the pictures of martyrs and remove the ticket counter structure and e-ticketing machines.

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