Martyrs’ kin seek entry into Jallianwala Bagh

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 21

Members of the Jallianwala Bagh Shaheed Parivar Samiti held an hour-long silent protest, seeking access to the bagh, outside its locked gate here on Monday.

A group of nearly a dozen members took part in the protest which started at 1 pm. They raised their concerns over the beautification work being carried out at Rs 20 crore inside the bagh. They demanded that some members of the samiti must be included in the Jallianwala Bagh Trust to make them aware of proceedings of the trust.

Mahesh Nehal, president of the samiti, said, “Being descendants of the martyrs, do we not reserve the right to know what is happening inside the Bagh where our ancestors shed blood to liberate the country.” He questioned the need to maintain secrecy behind the development. He added that the bagh remained out-of-bounds for the public for the past nearly one and a half months.

Gian Chand Saggu, another martyr’s kin said, the government closed the bagh for the visitors after a grant of Rs 20 crore came for its beautification and renovation. He warned “if the government did not allow them access inside the bagh, they would be compelled to hold a protest at the Rajghat in New Delhi in the coming days to make their grievances heard.”

Earlier, the martyrs’ kin held a protest over being denied permission to enter the bagh to pay tributes to the martyrs. Police and district administrative officials had denied them access inside the bagh due to government directions banning all public gatherings, including political rallies, in view of an increased number of Covid-19 infections.