Automated barriers at Jallianwala Bagh: Martyrs’ kin against entry fee

GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, September 5

Will there be a paid entrance to the Jallianwala Bagh? The authorities have denied it. Yet, automated entry barriers have been installed, which point towards the possibility of charging an entrance fee. Also, a room-like structure, supposedly a ticket counter, is already erected at the main entrance of the Bagh.

An official, on the condition of anonymity, said originally, a proposal was mooted to have a paid entrance to the Jallianwala Bagh on the lines of other monuments like the Taj Mahal in Agra and Jantar Mantar or Qutab Minar in Delhi.

“During a meeting held earlier, it was observed that to prevent ‘non-serious’ elements who sit in the Bagh all day or locals who could use the place as a picnic spot, a nominal entrance fee could be charged. That’s how the e-ticketing concept was included in the plan,” he said.

Former MP Tarlochan Singh, who is one of the members of the PM-led Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Trust, denied it. “The access to the historical site will be totally free,” he said. On maintenance, he said it was a project undertaken by the Union Ministry of Culture.

Desh Bhagat Yaadgar Committee chief Ajmer Singh and general secretary Gurmeet Singh, who visited the Bagh, lodged their protest on the installation of ‘ticket counters’ and the e-ticketing equipment at the entrance.

Sunil Kapoor, whose great-grandfather Lala Vasu Mal Kapoor was shot dead during the massacre, said, “What’s painful than the authorities seeking money in the name of martyrs. We oppose the move.”