Jallianwala Bagh National Amendment Act was passed in Lok Sabha to end the Congress President’s nomination as the trustee of Jallianwala Bagh Memorial trust on 8th July 2019. In this article, you will get to know everything you need to know about this bill.
History of Jallianwala Bagh
Jallianwala Bagh Massacre took place on 13th April 1919 in Amritsar. Soldiers of British Army opened fired in the peaceful gathering of unarmed men, women and children. The firing was done under the command of General Reginald Dyer. As a result, more than hundreds of civilians who had gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh were killed and thousands were injured. This event led to the formation of a trust to construct a memorial in 1920. The Indian National Congress passed the resolution and in 1923 the land was purchased to build the memorial. The inauguration of the site took place on 13th April 1961 by Rajendra Prasad, in presence of Jawaharlal Nehru and other leaders.Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Act 1951
The act was passed for the purpose of creating a National Memorial in the memory of people who died in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. It focused on the creation of a trust in order to manage the memorial. The composition of the trust was mentioned in the bill itself- Prime Minister as the chairperson
- President of Indian National Congress
- Minister in-charge of Culture
- Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha
- Governor of Punjab
- Chief Minister of Punjab
- Three eminent persons nominated by Central Government
Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (amendment) 2019
The bill was introduced by Minister of state of Culture, Prahlad Singh Patel in Lok Sabha on 8th July 2019 as the year marks the centenary of Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The bill was passed in Lok Sabha on 2nd August 2019 by a voice vote. The main objective of the amendment is to remove or delete the mention of the President of Indian National Congress as a trustee of the memorial. The president of the Indian National Congress is automatically nominated as a trustee; this provision is removed by the amendment.Another change is the re-nomination of the three trustees who are Appointed by Central Government. The government can also terminate the tenure of the nominated trustees before their term ends. According to Prahlad Patel the reason for bringing this amendment is the belief of removing politics from the National Memorial.
The bill has been amended in 2006 to fix the tenure of the nominated trustees to five years.
The bill to remove the Congress President as the permanent member of the memorial was earlier introduced in the winter session, during the 16th Lok Sabha, but it was rejected in Rajya Sabha.
The bill after being passed in Lok Sabha on 2nd August, was denied in Rajya Sabha due to division of voters.
Conclusion
Congress opposed the bill in Lok Sabha as well as in Rajya Sabha. Shashi Tharoor, a Member of Parliament stated that it is " denial of the heritage of the country" and it should be stopped.Even though the bill was passed in the Lok Sabha after walking out of Congress, it deferred in Rajya Sabha.
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Hey, I am Srijoni and I am pursuing Philosophy (hons) from LSR, University of Delhi. I am passionate about learning new things and exploring new places.
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