Build grand memorial to martyrs: HP minister

Naina Mishra
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 13

Himachal Pradesh Education Minister Suresh Bhardwaj today urged Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to build a grand memorial in the memory of civilians massacred at Jallianwala Bagh.

Speaking during the event, Bhardwaj said: “Last year, I went to Jallianwala Bagh and was saddened to see the memorial built there. We have not been able to build a memorial that would give justice and depict the martyrs’ sacrifices.”

“The Jallianwala Bagh massacre will be remembered till eternity as it marked the beginning of the freedom struggle of India,” he said. While condemning the Rowlatt Act, he said, “The Rowlatt Act was a black Act that aimed at suppressing political leaders’ voice and permitting imprisonment of suspects without trial.” 

“It can also be described as the first-ever law that targeted press freedom after the ‘Emergency’ period, which also crippled our fundamental rights. The Act was censured by the revolutionaries of that time.”

Bhardwaj said the way “our unarmed men were fired at on the orders of General Dyer cannot be forgotten. It was a deadly massacre of thousands of civilians who had gathered peacefully at Jallianwala Bagh”.

The Himachal Minister said his state had always “stayed upfront at the service of the nation and our soldiers at the border were rendering selfless service for the country”.