Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the renovated complex of Jallianwala Bagh memorial on August 28 via video conference. The Prime Minister’s Office said Modi will also inaugurate museum galleries developed at the memorial in Amritsar. The event will showcase multiple development initiatives taken by the government to upgrade the complex, it added.
The revamped monument was to be inaugurated on April 13 this year, to mark 102 years of the massacre in which 379 people had lost their lives, but it had to be postponed owing to Covid-related restrictions. The PMO noted that four museum galleries have been created through adaptive reuse of redundant and underutilised buildings. The galleries showcase the historical value of events that unfolded in Punjab during that period, with the fusion of audio-visual technology, including projection mapping and 3D representation, as well as art and sculptural installations. The PMO said Union Minister of Culture, Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministers of State for Culture, Governors and chief ministers of Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, all Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs from Punjab, and members of Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Trust among others will be present on the occasion. The political leaders will join through video conferencing, officials from the Ministry of Culture and families of the martyrs will be present on ground for a restricted ceremony.
A sound and light show has been set up to display the events that happened on April 13, 1919 when the British forces fired indiscriminately on a large and peaceful gathering of protesters, killing over 1,000 people and wounding hundreds of them. Several new and modern amenities have been added, including redefined paths of movement with appropriate signages, illumination of strategic spots, landscaping and hardscaping with native plantation, and installation of audio nodes throughout the garden. Also, newer areas have been developed for housing the Salvation Ground, Amar Jyoti and Flag Mast.
