A day after assuming charge as Punjab governor and administrator of Chandigarh, Banwarilal Purohit on Wednesday visited Jallianwala Bagh amid controversy over its restoration/renovation. He paid his tribute to those killed in the massacre of April 13, 1919.
“I have paid my homage to martyrs. The complete renovation team had done a wonderful and archaeologically right job. No changes have been made to the archaeological site of this place,” the governor wrote in the visitor’s book.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had, virtually inaugurated the historic site on August 28. The renovation had led to a huge row with historians, among others, criticising the central government for ‘erasing history’ of the Bagh. It had also started a political debate in the country.
On Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi slammed the makeover of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre site as ‘belittling of the martyrdom’. However, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh had said, “I don’t know what has been removed. Whatever I saw that night (at the inauguration event), it looked very nice to me.”
Some family members of those who were killed during the massacre also raised objections over the work done on some parts of the Bagh and the changing of Amar Jyoti (the eternal flame) and the flag post.
{{/usCountry}}Some family members of those who were killed during the massacre also raised objections over the work done on some parts of the Bagh and the changing of Amar Jyoti (the eternal flame) and the flag post.
{{/usCountry}}The governor also visited the Golden Temple and the Durgiana Temple in Amritsar, where the managements of both the sites honoured him. He, however, refrained from talking to the media.