Punjab to compile ‘authentic’ list of Jallianwala martyrs

GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 6

Over a century after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, the Punjab Government has taken the initiative to compile a list of martyrs. The Departments of Tourism and Cultural Affairs and Public Relations, along with the Amritsar administration, have been assigned the task of authenticating the martyrs’ credentials and preparing a list in collaboration with Guru Nanak Dev University and the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Trust.

After being verified by the Amritsar DC and the Trust, the list would be sent to the Chief Minister for approval. Former Rajya Sabha MP Tarlochan Singh, a member of the Trust, who had raised the matter with the state government, observed: “It’s pity that 101 years after the massacre, there is no official list of the martyrs.” At present, restoration work at the Jallianwala Bagh is being carried out by the Ministry of Culture under the supervision of the Archaeological Survey of india (ASI).

The list of the dead and injured prepared by the British then for the purpose of awarding compensation has several discrepancies. Lying at the DC’s office, it has 501 on the list with many marked as “unidentified”. A recent study by the Partition Museum Trust puts the number at 547 with the names of 45 not known. A board standing in the precincts of the Jallianwala Bagh earlier put the death toll at 379.