Light show bereft of glow at Jallianwala Bagh

GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, March 2

With the inclusion of historic Jallianwala Bagh in the list of historic sites, the residents are hopeful that the 52-minute light-and-sound show at the historical park would be re-started.

Located in the vicinity of the Golden Temple, the 6.5-acre park houses a memorial established in 1951 to commemorate the martyrs massacred by the British on April 13, 1919. The British forces had opened firing on hundreds of people, including unarmed women and children, who had assembled to celebrate the Punjabi New Year. While the true figure of the fatalities remains unknown, but more than 1,500 people are said to have died.

After the Golden Temple, the next place that finds place on the itinerary of the tourists in the holy city is the Jallianwala Bagh.

The Union Government had started the light-and-sound show as a tribute to those killed in the massacre about 96 years ago. But it has been lying defunct for the past seven months. The 18-minute documentary, which was shown through a projector daily in seven shows at a 50-seat hall at the park, too, lies discontinued for long. The software used for the show is learnt to have developed a technical snag, which could not be revived to date. The Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Trust, responsible for the park’s upkeep, is run under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister. Trust secretary SK Mukherjee said the Union Ministry of Culture had been conveyed about a technical snag that had led to the discontinuation of the light-and-sound show.

It was on April 14, 2010, when the then Union Defence Minister AK Antony had, in the presence of former Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni, dedicated the light-and-sound show to the public.

In the show, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan’s could be heard narrating the massacre in Hindi, his voice synchronising with the special effect of the lights that highlighted various monuments at the park, including the original bullet-riddled wall and the martyrs’ well.

The show was a hit among the spectators visiting the park. It helped them comprehend one of most gruesome attacks on Indians during the British colonial rule as well as the valour of the freedom fighters who had refused to cow down before the threats of the foreign rulers. “The snag has been brought to the notice of the central ministry, but it could not be rectified to date. As Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has included Jallianwala Bagh in the list of heritage sites, there is a ray of hope that not only the show but several new things will begin here,” said Mukherjee.