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HISTORY,
LEGEND & MYTHOLOGY Lathicharge
on students protesting renovation of Jallianwalah Bagh
Amritsar: Police batoncharged thousands of
students who were protesting against renovating the Jallianwala Bagh memorial
here on Thursday. Protesters alleged that the government wanted to give a facelift
to the Jallianwalah Bagh memorial to turn it into a tourist attraction, thereby
violating its sanctity. "The so called development would deprive the coming generation
of the rich heritage of Punjab. These stages would eventually be used for portraying
vulgar shows for the visiting VVIP's cars from newly constructed of VIP gate at
the entrance," said Sandeep Kaur, president of Punjab Student Union (PSU). The
protest was organised by Punjab Students Union and a youth organisation, Naujwan
Bharat Sabha. The protesters also demand inclusion of next of kin of the freedom
fighters who were killed in the massacre to be included in the development committee.
Police officials said they resorted to baton charge as the protest turned violent.
"They came peacefully, but they protested against the ongoing development work
in Jallianwalah Bagh. We gave them regular warnings, but they turned violent.
We had to resort to mild baton charge and arrested two of their members," said
Kunwer Vijay Partap Singh, senior superintendent of police, Amritsar. The Central
Government in 1991 sanctioned construction of special memorial galleries and introduction
of light and sound programmes. Situated in Amritsar, Jallianwalah Bagh was the
park where hundreds of Indians were gunned down by British forces led by General
Michael O'Dyer in April 13, 1919.
Feb 13, 2009 Previous
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