E-Paper
No ceremony at Jallianwala Bagh for second consecutive Baisakhi
The Bagh, which was closed for restoration work around one-and-half years ago, was out of bounds for the visitors on Tuesday
AMRITSAR For the second consecutive Baisakhi, there was no ceremony to commemorate the 102nd anniversary of Jallianwala Bagh massacre on Tuesday amid a fresh wave of Covid-19 outbreak and restrictions thereof.
The Bagh, which was closed for restoration work around one-and-half years ago, was out of bounds for the visitors, including the family members of some of those who fell to bullets of British soldiers commanded by General Reginald Dyer on April 13, 1919. No one from the state or central government turned up even for the symbolic commemoration.
Jallianwala Bagh Shaheed Parivar Samiti president Mahesh Behal whose grandfather Hari Ram was killed in the massacre said, “We requested that at least I should be allowed to go up to the memorial. However, the security personnel did not allow even one person inside. This is not fair. They should have eased the restrictions for today at least.”
A group of farmers owing allegiance to Azad Kisan Sangharsh Committee turned up there raising slogans in favour of the martyrs. They also tried to enter the garden but security personnel didn’t let them in. Farmers then raised slogans against the government.
Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Trust member and Rajya Sabha MP Shwait Malik reiterated that the revamped memorial would have been reopened this Baisakhi, but the Covid-19 norms turned out to be a hurdle in the way.
