A tribute to Amritsaris, who shaped social, political, cultural landscapes of country
Neha Saini
Amritsar, October 2
Celebrating the contributions of unsung heroes of the Indian National Movement, Zyna Dhillon, a grade 12 student of Invictus School, has started a campaign to install information plaques at significant landmarks across the city in collaboration with the municipal corporation.
The campaign aims at documenting and making citizens aware, especially the young generation, about the legacy of these unsung heroes, who are part of Amritsar’s history and heritage. The plaques designed by Zyna state their contribution to city’s social, national and cultural history.
Among these eminent names is Kalinath Ray, a former Editor in Chief of The Tribune, often described as a ‘fearless and uncorrupted editor’, who mobilised the masses in support of the nationalist movement through his scathing articles, criticising the British. He wrote prolifically against the brutal British regime during the days leading to Jallianwala Bagh massacre and after it. A plaque stating his contribution to the national movement has been installed at the Nehru Shopping Complex.
Zyna shared that her intent to research about these significant personalities was to make her peers and young generation aware about city’s glorious past and its contribution to the growth and development of the nation’s secular fabric.
“There is so much about Amritsar beyond the usual food and spiritual tourism. The fact that young people or a larger population of the country do not know about the important role that Amritsar played in creating the social, political and cultural fabric of country shocked me. It also triggered the need to do something to create awareness about it,” said Zyna.
So far, she has installed plaques of Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew, Saadat Hasan Manto, Kalinath Ray and Shaheed Udham Singh at significant landmarks that are connected to these personalities.
“The ancestral house of Manto inside the walled city has been razed and new structure built upon it. The fact that we need to preserve this tangible heritage that is a reminder of the stalwarts that made India and contributed to its future must be acknowledged and realised,” she said.
Scathing criticism of the British
Kalinath Ray (1878-1945) had two stints with The Tribune in Lahore, first from 1917 to 1943 and second from 1944 to 1945. According to historian Prof VN Datta, because of The Tribune’s scathing criticism of the oppressive regime of Michael O’Dwyer in 1919, Kalinath Ray was sentenced to two years’ rigorous imprisonment, which was later reduced to three months.
