City rolls out red carpet for Trudeau

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 21

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the Partition Museum located at Town Hall on Wednesday. Navjot Singh Sidhu, Minister of Local Bodies, Culture and Tourism, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Member of Parliament from Amritsar, and Karamjit Singh Rintu, Mayor, were accompanying him. He had been to Golden Temple before turning up here.

The Canadian PM spent about 25 minutes in the museum. He had a look at various sections of the museum, telling stories of pain and sufferings of displaced people in 1947. Trudeau during his short visit spent time in the gallery of migration hearing stories and looking at the various objects carried by people as they fled their homes and moved across the newly-drawn borders.

Mallika Ahluwalia, CEO and Curator, Partition Museum, said, “We are very grateful to the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for visiting the Partition Museum. We are keen to record and include the stories of Punjabis settled in Canada due to vibrant presence of the Punjabis.”

It is the world’s first museum dedicated to the Partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947. The Museum is dedicated to all those millions impacted in the largest migration in human history and is a space of reconciliation. 

He was accompanied by five of his cabinet ministers and 15 MPs. Trudeau also shared his thoughts on the Partition Museum. “We need to remember that it has always been easy to divide people. Bringing people together with love and understanding is the only path to be followed. We have to be vigilant about what we are putting into the world.”

Earlier, Trudeau visited Golden Temple where he performed ‘sewa’ at the community kitchen. Trudeau, his family and his cabinet colleagues were presented siropa inside the shrine. In a first, the head priest also offered a bouquet to the Canadian PM.

TRUDEAU’S NOTE

Canada PM leaves a note on the Tree of Hope that reads... 

The museum is a poignant reminder that dividing people is never the answer. We must learn to live together and love our differences.