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Jallianwala Bagh revisited
Plans for districts with poor sex ratio
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 From swimming to archery
Her indomitable desire propels her to play numerous roles. She plays them with such a force that an onlooker remains bemused at her courage. This B.A. second year gutsy student of the BBK DAV College for Women, Satbir Kaur, is a member of the teams of archery, swimming and rowing. She proved a catalyst in several wins, which made her presence in the teams almost inevitable. Beginning from the team game of rowing, Satbir Kaur has been part of the inter-college championship team for the past four years. Satbir Kaur — a rower, swimmer and archery player.
GND varsity goes global
Children turn to yoga
No threat of flu
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Jallianwala Bagh revisited
Popular singer Pradeep’s song goes: “Jallianwala Bagh yeh dekho, Yahan chali thhi goliyan, Marane waale bol rahe thhe, Inquilab ki boliyan. (Look here is Jallianwala Bagh where bullets rained; Dying, the people raised slogans for change).’’
However, the Jallianwala Bagh memorial that stands today as a mute testimony to what Winston Churchill later described as a “monstrous event,” was more or less an open enclosure with tall buildings on all four sides with a narrow passage. Interestingly, a Bengali family keen interest to make it a “national memorial”, despite the fact that the British government made all-out efforts to convert the place into a cloth market. The British bureaucrats went to the extent of luring the local merchants to buy the land at throwaway prices. However, the members of Mukherjee family, who have been looking after the upkeep of the memorial since its inception, played a vital role in raising the memorial at the present site. All the Mukherjees are quite at home with Punjabi, Hindi and English, apart from their
mother tongue Bengali.
Mr S.K. Mukherjee, Secretary, Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Trust, claims that his grandfather Dr Sarthi Charan Mukherjee, a homeopathy practitioner in Allahabad, the then joint secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), was deputed by Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya and Gokul Nath Mishra to inspect the venue for the proposed AICC session in August 1919 in Amritsar. Upon visiting Jallianwalla Bagh, he listened to harrowing accounts from the injured, survivors and eyewitnesses of the massacre. So moved was he that he resolved to raise a memorial at Jallianwala Bagh. The Bengali Babu from Uttar Pradesh was determined to devote the rest of his life to the service of Punjab. He is a perfect symbol of national integration. Subsequently, Dr Mukherjee met frontline leaders, including Gandhiji, Moti Lal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallab Bhai Patel and proposed to convert Jallianwala Bagh to a national memorial in order to perpetuate the memory of martyrs of the freedom struggle. He says eventually, the Congress session of that year was held in Amritsar in December at Aitchision Park, commonly known as Gol Bagh, located opposite Durgiana Temple. A resolution passed in the session, presided over by Pandit Motilal Nehru, resolved to procure the land of Jallianwala Bagh, he added. Dr Mukherjee was instrumental in purchasing the open space (Jallianwala Bagh) from Sardars of Jallian village (the monument acquired its name from the erstwhile village) before the then government could do so. The space was then often used for public function. “It was the decision of the then Lieutenant-Governor of the state to turn Jallianwala Bagh into a market place so that no one remembered the then government’s misdeed,” says Mr S.K. Mukherjee. Dr Mukherjee went door to door to collect donation and collected about Rs 9.35 lakh. However, the British did not want the land to go to the Congress. They lured the 34 owners of Jallianwala Bagh and even offered to make it a cloth market. However, much to the dislike of the rulers, the auction of the land took place and the deal was finalised at Rs 5.65 lakh. Following this, Dr Mukherjee was arrested by the police to force him to hand over the land deed. But he did not budge from his position. Dr Mukherjee was then made the founder-secretary of the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Trust in 1920. Jawaharlal Nehru, after becoming the first Prime Minister of independent India also became the Chairperson of the memorial trust. A global tender was floated to construct a befitting memorial for the martyrs. Noted American architect Benjamin Polk’s design of flame was selected. The memorial is now called the “Flame of liberty”. Following Dr Mukherjee’s request, Prime Minister Nehru and the then President, Dr Rajendra Prasad, arrived to attend the inauguration of the memorial. It was perhaps, for the first time in the history of free India that both President and Prime Minister were present at a function out of the national capital. Dr Mukherjee’s son, Mr U.N Mukherjee remained the secretary of the trust from 1961 to 1988. Following the death of Mr U.N Mukherjee, his son Mr S.K. Mukherjee, was made the secretary. He left his job with the Oriental Bank of Commerce to join the post that he considers as a service to the nation. The Mukherjees originally hail from Dasghara village in Hoogli district of Bengal. Mr S.K Mukherjee stays in Jallianwala Bagh complex with his elder brother Mr P.S. Mukherjee and their families. They celebrate all festivals of north India, while keeping close ties with their relatives in Bengal. The trust has been able to preserve an array of historic articles related to the massacre. It includes a currency coin that has a hole made from the piercing of a bullet taken out from the pocket of one of the martyrs, a rare photograph of injured in the carnage, the death certificate of Udham Singh and many more. It is significant to note here that The Tribune played patriotic role after the tragedy. Punjab was cut off from the rest of the world following the Jallianwala Bagh incident. The local nationalist papers, including The Tribune, were closed down, and news reportage was strictly controlled by the authorities. The British-appointed Hunter’s Committee report on the massacre was an eyewash. In this situation when countrymen began their real war for independence, many journalists were in the forefront. They naturally suffered at the hands of the authorities. The Tribune’s legendary Editor, Mr Kali Nath Roy, was in the forefront. The case came up before the Martial Tribunal under Lieutenant-Colonel Irvine. Kali Nath Roy was first sentenced to two-year rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,000. What invited the wrath of the British Empire was a news report, “Prayer at the Jama Masjid” on April 6, 1919. The city was handed over to General Dyer. An article in The Tribune recorded how the tide turned against the British following this: “The holocaust at Jallianwala Bagh showed off the British at their worst. They made us crawl on our bellies and shot us down as wild pariah dogs. That incidentally put a nail in the coffin of the British Empire in India. We had indeed come to the parting of ways.” Later, Pandit Pearay Mohan Dattatreya, the then Senior Assistant Editor of The Tribune documented the historical proceedings on the massacre of Jallianwala Bagh. He authored two voluminous volumes, The Punjab “Rebellion” of 1919 and how it was suppressed. The foreword of the book was written by Lala Lajpat Rai. When Pandit Pearay Mohan Dattatreya died on 23rd December, 1936, at Lahore at the young age of 41, a national English daily of Delhi called him “a great journalist”. Son of the distinguished Urdu and Persian scholar and poet, Pandit Brij Mohan Dattatreya “Kaifi”, Pearay Mohan was born in 1895. He joined The Tribune in November 1920 and by the sheer dint of his ability rose to become the Senior Assistant Editor of the paper. Pandit Pearay Mohan Dattatreya’s classic, first published in Lahore in 1920, a virtual encyclopaedia on Punjab under martial law in 1919 (and not just about Jallianwala Bagh), was immediately banned by the British Government. Martyrs’ famous lines “He was the real culprit. He deserved it. He wanted to crush the spirit of my people, so I have crushed him.” These were the words of Shaheed Udham Singh at the trial court. He was explaining why he had killed former Punjab Lieutenant-Governor Michael O’Dwyer. Udham Singh, who bore the name Ram Mohammad Singh Azad, was brought up in the Central Orphanage Home, run by Chief Khalsa Diwan. He was hanged in June 1940 for the murder of Michael O-Dwyer, the Lieutenant-Governor who presided over the brutal British suppression of the 1919 uprising in Punjab. Udham Sigh was a witness to that carnage. The Martyrs’ Gallery at Jallianwala Bagh displays with honour a portrait of Udham Singh with his famous lines from the trial in England: “What greater honour can be bestowed on me than death for the sake of my motherland?” A survivor’s tale Time has not healed his wounds. The memories about the holocaust of Jallianwala Bagh are still fresh in the mind of the 113-year-old Bapu Shingara Singh, the sole survivor of the massacre. The President, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, met the old man to have a first-hand information about the massacre of hundreds of innocent Indians at the hands of General Dyer. He also had a chance to meet the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Though today Bapu Shingara Singh is struck with a paralytic attack, he vividly recalls the pre-Partition days. He narrates many incidents of his youth when he killed many rioters. Giving details of the massacre, Bapu says that he, along with four friends, had gone to Jallianwala Bagh to listen to the speeches of freedom fighters on the fateful Baisakhi day. While his three friends died in the indiscriminate firing, he managed to sneak out. He was also a witness to people jumping into the well to save themselves from the firing. Though the administration has failed to fulfill the promises made by the President, Mr M.S. Bitta, President All India Terrorist Front, has come forward to render all possible help to the eyewitness of Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
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From swimming to archery
Her indomitable desire propels her to play numerous roles. She plays them with such a force that an onlooker remains bemused at her courage.
This B.A. second year gutsy student of the BBK DAV College for Women, Satbir Kaur, is a member of the teams of archery, swimming and rowing. She proved a catalyst in several wins, which made her presence in the teams almost inevitable. Beginning from the team game of rowing, Satbir Kaur has been part of the inter-college championship team for the past four years. She played for the Guru Nanak Dev University team in the Inter-University Rowing Championship held at Kolkata in 2004. The team had won bronze medal in the Coxed four. This year, she was again selected in the University team that played in the All India Inter-University Rowing Championship concluded in March this year. Interestingly, all the seven players of the team were from her college. They were Surinder Kaur, Satbir Kaur, Preeti, Gurjit Kaur, Amanpreet Kaur, Deepika and Kiran. In archery, Satbir was adjudged the second best overall archer in the 26th Open Senior National Archery Championship concluded at Jamshedpur in February. She clinched a silver medal in the Olympic round on bamboo event and a bronze medal in the 50 meters. Although she has made a mark in these two games at national level, but her first passion was swimming. She took a plunge with the game when she was studying in eighth class. Two years of toiling brought her place in the School National. She has been a member of the college swimming team for the past four years, and won several medals for the college in the Guru Nanak Dev University inter-college swimming championship.
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Plans for districts with poor sex ratio Emphasising on separate plans to control the falling sex ratio in 16 districts of the country, Dr Girija Vyas, Chairperson, the National Commission for Women (NCW), has said the Commission had recommended some suggestions to the Centre, including that of bringing all new technologies of sex determination under the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act and making it stronger and stricter. The NCW Chairperson was here regarding launching of a nationwide campaign, “Chalo Gaaon Ki Aur”, for creating awareness amongst rural women and people about female foeticide. Dr Vyas said the role of the police should also be elaborated under the Act. She added that till now, the police had a limited role under the Act, as the job of controlling and taking action against the accused doctors or clinics was with the Health Department. She said the commission had urged the government to give more rights to the police, so that they could take suo moto action against such clinics that did sex determination tests. The NCW Chairperson said that annual, regular and data-based checking of sex ratio in the districts with lower sex ratio should be made mandatory. “We should not wait for a decade to carry out a population census,” she added. Dr Vyas also stressed on sensitising other agencies in implementing the Act. She said although Punjab was worst-effected by the sex ratio imbalance, the situation was not hopeless. “Compared to other states, the awareness level on the issue is higher in Punjab.” “There is a ray of hope that Punjab, the only state in the country that had successfully countered terrorism, will also wipe out this social evil,” she added. She said the commission had urged the government to include all the ministries concerned in this effort. “It is unfortunate that the committees formed to check this menace have not performed up to the mark due to a lack of awareness about the Act.” Dr Vyas rued that even the district officers were not properly aware of the PNDT Act.
— OC
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Winning medals at 66
It was not for the first time that 66-year-old Gurdial Singh Aidhan clinched a gold medal in high jump and a bronze medal in 100-metre race in the recently-concluded 26th Punjab (Indo, Pak and UK) Master Athletics Championship at the Guru Nanak Dev University.
The medals became important since they were won on home ground. Aidhan, originally from a village near Lahore, said he had been moving from place to place to earn a livelihood, but finally settled in the city. His maiden appearance in the Punjab Veteran Athletics Games was in 1994 and he clinched second position in high jump. “It encouraged me and I decided to make a name out of it”. He had participated in athletic events while studying in school. “I used to help my father in farming, which made my physique sturdy,” he said. In 1995, he improved his standing by securing gold medals in long jump and high jump in the Punjab Meet. In the National Veteran Athletics Meet held at Mysore (Karnatka) in 1996, Aidhan got a bronze medal in triple jump. In the next edition of the national meet held at Kanpur, he won a gold medal in long jump. In the 1998 National Veteran at Mumbai, the veteran athlete secured a gold in triple jump. In 2001, he succeeded in getting first positions in the long jump and triple jump at the Punjab Veteran Games. Aidhan said that when he was seven, Partitioned happened. “Overnight, my well to do family became penniless. We had to leave our ancestral house and settle at Sultanpur Lodhi. After working at the railway workshop here for 15 years, Aidhan left for Oman and worked there for 18 years. Besides playing, he writes poems in Punjabi.
— OC
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GND varsity goes global
The Guru Nanak Dev University would soon organise a 10-day Education
Fair-cum- Gyan Yatra.
With the event, the university aims at pulling students from Ethiopia and Kenya, the two East African countries. A 16-member delegation of senior university administrators and principals of premiere affiliated colleges have already left for Ethiopia and Kenya for this purpose. The Government of India, the state government and the UGC have accorded concurrence to organise this education fair. Dr S.P. Singh, Vice-Chancellor of the university, said the Education Minister of Ethiopia would inaugurate the Fair and the Indian Ambassador in Ethiopia and High Commissioner of India in Kenya would be the chief hosts. He said that besides parents and prospective students, vice-chancellors of various universities from both these countries, along with the government and embassy representatives, were likely to participate in the international fair. The university and several colleges are planning audio-video presentations on the occasion to highlight the academic programmes and other educational facilities being given here. Giving details of the fair, the Vice-Chancellor said the main purpose of the event was to attract foreign students towards various academic programmes being run by the university. These include courses in science, arts, technology, law, IT, physiotherapy, languages, religion, electronics engineering, architecture, sugar technology, textile technology, planning and civil aviation. This way, he said, the university’s academic programmes would get recognition at the international level and get some revenue to the university. Dr S.P. Singh said the university had decided to grant Associate Institutes status to educational institutions from Kenya and Ethiopia and other countries interested in taking courses of the Guru Nanak Dev University under the Distance Education System. To explore possibilities of establishing Associate Institutes in these countries, the team would also discuss related matters with the managing committees of the leading chain of educational institutions in Kenya and Ethiopia.
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Children turn to yoga
A six-day workshop ‘Art Excel’ for the children aged between 8 to 15 years was organised here recently by the Amritsar chapter of the Art of Living.
Ms Muskaan Kapoor, instructor of the workshop, talking to the Tribune, said the workshop was being conducted for providing the children an all-round training in excellence covering every aspect of a child’s development. She said about 70 children, who participated in the workshop, were taught pranayam, meditation and yoga. Ms Kapoor said that during the course, the children were given training to deal with stress of modern life, nurturing human values, overcoming shyness and nervousness, discovering talents, enhancing confidence and aptitude, art of making friends, handling negative emotions such as fear, anger and frustration in positive ways, and encouraging inherent compassion through service projects. She claimed that a 14-year-old Abhinav, who had crippled arms and legs, could not sit on the floor easily before joining the camp, but now he was able to sit properly. She said that he was very shy and hardly intermingled with other children. But now he had gained confidence and developed friendship with every one, she claimed. She further claimed that a girl Riya (11), who used to have bouts of fits earlier and was also suffering from pneumonia, did not experienced a single bout during the camp and was fast convalescing from pneumonia. She further said that generally children did not join such camps, but those children who once joined the camps regularly attend the programme in the camps and were serious towards it. She said the children also participated in the debate, stage and various games organised by them during the workshop. Many children, who participated in the workshop, said that they had benefitted from the camp, as they had gained confidence and had learnt to overcome stress and anger.
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No threat of flu
With the rise in mercury to 40 degree celsius, there is no threat of avian flu now in the Amritsar District. The district administration has also chalked out an action plan to encounter any unforeseen outbreak.
This was stated by Mr Kirandeep Singh Bhullar, Deputy Commissioner, in a meeting of the district officials held here recently. Mr Bhullar, in a release to the media, said that a comprehensive plan had been prepared in this regard and various departments had been designated to cater to the minutest details. He disclosed that the District Forest Officer (Wild Life Sanctuary) would conduct regular surveillance of water bodies to notice any higher mortality or abnormal behaviour of local and migratory birds. The Deputy Director, Animal Husbandry, Amritsar, would provide a list of organised poultry farms in the district with their respective capacities. He said that the Medical Officer (Health) would prepare a list of poultry markets in Amritsar and the number of shops selling chicken/mutton. He further said that the Civil Surgeon would set up a control room equipped with all the necessary health facilities, to monitor the situation and rapid response teams were being constituted to keep on a high alert. Similarly, Principal, Government Medical College, had been directed to look into the logistic requirements and strengthen the ICU facilities in the college. The DC said that for effective implementation of the action plan in respect of law and order, the assistance from the police and para-military units would be sought. The public health department had also been directed to ensure availability of disinfectants and fumigants for disinfection of poultry farms, poultry equipments and vehicles, he added. — TNS
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Weekly round-up
Office-bearers
The new executive members of the New Amritsar Residents Welfare Association were elected in a meeting held here recently. Among the elected are Mr Yash Pal Sharma as president, Mr Ajaib Singh Pannu as senior vice-president, Mr Ajmer Singh as vice-president, Mr Inderjit Kalia as finance secretary, and Dr Sham Lal Sharma as general secretary. The persons, who were nominated as the executive members included Mr Jagjit Singh, Mr Surat Singh, Prof Paramjit Singh, Principal Mahan Singh, Mr Ramesh Sharma, Mr Karanjit Singh Sandhu, Mr A S Kahlon, Mr Nand Kishore Mahajan, Mr Jagir Singh, Mr Daler Singh Dhillon and Mr Harbans Singh. The spokesman of the association said the new committee would take up the matter of proper sewerage maintenance, bus stop, ban on cattle grazing, control of pollution among others with the concerned authorities. Corps Day
Panther DOU celebrated 231st Army Ordnance Corps Day at Amritsar Cantonment area here. A series of events were organised by Panthers DOU to make the occasion memorable. The occasion was graced by the presence of General-Officer-Commanding, Panther Division. Major General B.K. Kalra (retd) and Major General D. D. Ghoshal (retd) and a large number of retired fraternity of Army ordnance Corps graced the occasion. Foundation Day
134 battalion of Central Reserve Police Force celebrated its 13th Foundation Day at Ajnala Road with much fan and fervour. The various groups in the battalions presented cultural programme, sports events and stalls on the occasion. Meeting held
The Amritsar Joint Welfare and Development Federation in a meeting held here recently resolved to recommend development project within Basant Avenue, Beauty Avenue and Medical Enclave. Mr S S Nagi, president of the federation, in a press release, stated that the federation would also supervise the quality of construction of projects through grant allotted by the MLA of the area. The federation thanked Mr O P Soni, MLA, for allotting Rs 23 lakh as grant for the installation of tubewell in Beauty Avenue and another grant of Rs 10 lakh for the improvement of bylanes and parks of these colonies. Part-time posts
The Joint Forum of Ranjit Avenue Welfare Associations, in a meeting, said that it had sanctioned the four posts of part time sweepers for maintaining cleanliness in the area. The forum, led by Mr Sukhwinder Singh, president, also discussed the future plans. Inauguration
Suzuki Motorcycles India Private Limited (SMIPL) inaugurated its exclusive showroom in the city and showcased its initial range of motorcycles for the Indian market recently. The motorcycles on display “Heat and Zeus” were targeted to provide Indian consumers a new feel in the commuter market category (100-125cc), claimed the company spokesperson. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Depak Pandey, Head Sales and Marketing, claimed, “Suzuki motorcycles have been indigenously developed. Suzuki promises to meet the expectations of the consumers in terms of technology, styling and performance.”
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