New Delhi: Hours after Congress leaders like Rahul Gandhi called the revamp of the Jallianwala Bagh memorial an “insult to martyrs,” Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday, August 31, said it “looked very nice”.
He, however, said he does not know what has been removed from the complex during the renovation of the memorial.
The new memorial, which many historians have called flashy, has also been soundly criticised by many associated with this chapter of colonial history, who felt that it does not do justice to a place associated with such horrors of British torture.
Kim A. Wagner, professor of history in London and author of Amritsar 1919 – An Empire of Fear and the Making of a Massacre, tweeted that the renovation “means that the last traces of the event have effectively been erased”.
Jallianwala Bagh lightshow.
I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that we got to commemorate the centenary without this…😑https://t.co/ok1EdejwTC
— Kim A. Wagner (@KimAtiWagner) August 30, 2021
The Captain had attended the video conference function in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi digitally dedicated the renovated complex of the Jallianwala Bagh memorial to the nation on August 28.
“I was a part of the inauguration function of the renovated Jallianwala Bagh when Prime Minister Narendra Modi threw it open for the public. A laser show was also organised. I feel they needed to repair the walls that had developed cracks. The renovation looks nice to me,” Indian Express quoted the Captain as having said.
The chief minister was also told by reporters that Rahul Gandhi had tweeted on the renovation of the Jallianwala Bagh, but he said he did not know about Gandhi’s tweet.
“I only can tell you that I do not know what has been removed but what I saw on that night, I also spoke that night. To me it looked very nice,” Singh told reporters.
Earlier on Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi had termed the revamp of the Jallianwala Bagh memorial an “insult to martyrs”, saying only a person who does not know the meaning of martyrdom can inflict such an insult.
जलियाँवाला बाग़ के शहीदों का ऐसा अपमान वही कर सकता है जो शहादत का मतलब नहीं जानता।
मैं एक शहीद का बेटा हूँ- शहीदों का अपमान किसी क़ीमत पर सहन नहीं करूँगा।
हम इस अभद्र क्रूरता के ख़िलाफ़ हैं। pic.twitter.com/3tWgsqc7Lx
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 31, 2021
Those who didn’t struggle for freedom can’t understand those who did.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 31, 2021
Gandhi is not the only Congress leader who has taken a dim view of the renovation. The Express report notes that Jaiveer Shergill and Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi are among those in the Congress who have also been vocal against it.
Tension has been high between Captain Amarinder Singh and the Congress since Navjot Singh Sidhu was named Punjab Congress president.
(With PTI inputs)