Comrade Provash Ghosh, General Secretary, SUCI(C), has issued the following statement 31 August 2021:
We find no word fit enough to vehemently condemn the most dastardly act on the part of the BJP-led central government, to, in the name of renovation of the historic Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, erase even the last traces of the history of savage assault by the British imperialists on the innocent Indians. During the freedom movement in India, when a crowd of thousands had gathered at Jallianwala Bagh on 13 April 1919 to peacefully protest against the arrest of two nationalist leaders the then police chief General Reginald Dyer had ordered the British soldiers to block all exits and start firing on them until all their ammunition was exhausted. Hundreds of Indians were killed in this indiscriminate firing. Now, as part of the Bagh’s makeover, the “Shahidi Khuu” (Martyrs’ Well), where people cornered by the British soldiers had jumped in to save themselves, has now been enclosed with a variegated glass shield and the narrow lane through which Dyer’s forces accessed the area has been decorated with a shiny floor and side walls embossed with sculptures. The points of entry and exit to the Bagh have also been changed, and a lotus pond (lotus being BJP’s election symbol) has been built around the main structure. Thus the BJP led government is converting a heritage site into a theme park with commercial intent. The BJP Prime Minister whose predecessors and mentors were not only opposed to India’s freedom movement but also collaborated with the British imperialists to suppress it, has claimed that this newly decorated memorial would inspire the public to learn India’s journey to Independence. Hypocrisy par excellence!
We call upon all countrymen to unitedly rise in protest against such despicable act of defiling history and destroying historical monuments under the garb of renovation.
SUCI(C) vehemently condemns sinister act of BJP government to turn historic Jallianwala Bagh into a theme park
