Showcasing three centuries of the Khalsa

THIS refers to Aditi Tandon’s article "Showcasing Three Centuries of the Khalsa" (April 29) in which the writer describes the landscaped site which now flanks the gate to the historic city of Anandpur Sahib. This site has captured the history of the Sikh community. The project offers a wonderful insight into the tenets of Sikhism. The credit for its conception and execution goes to a city-based landscape artist Sonia Dhami and her devoted team. It only shows that our young local

artists have the requisite artistic skill and potential and when given an opportunity can be trusted to produce artistic wonders. Through their efforts they have produced a landscape that is a visual treat. It is a 10-minute journey through three centuries of the Khalsa.

ONKAR CHOPRA
Abohar

II

I read the article with interest and have also visited the site recently. Sonia Dhami and her team have made a good beginning but keeping in mind the importance of the place, I feel it required much better treatment. The statues that have been erected fail to live up to the image of the Khalsa. The landscape planning and layout lack imagination. The designers who were involved with the project, too, have not been able to fully exploit the available resources.

S.P.S. DOSANJH
Ludhiana

The real villain of Jallianwala

Apropos of K.K. Khullar’s write-up. "The real villain of Jallianwala" (April 22), for 81 years now Jallianwala Bagh at Amritsar has been a reminder to succeeding generations in this country of a tragic event which changed the nation’s history. The massacre of an unarmed and helpless crowd of men, women and children on April 13, 1919, became a milestone in the struggle for freedom which brought Mahatma Gandhi on the scene in his capacity as a leader of the masses whose presence inspired millions of people for three decades. On this fateful day every year, Indians revive the anguish and bitterness that followed the carnage in which hundreds of lives were mowed down with a ruthlessness that does not have many parallels in civilised society. No doubt, there was an unholy nexus between the Punjab Governor and General Dyer.

In the annals of our freedom struggle the Jallianwala Bagh massacre occupies an unforgettable place. Overnight, men and women resolved to defy the British might. For Gandhiji, the incident was a turning point. He became a ‘rebel’ and realised the futility of achieving freedom through British cooperation. The seeds of his "do or die" movement were thus sown then and there.

The Hunter Commission was unanimous in its verdict on General Dyer’s action and recommended his dismissal. In the British Parliament, Winston Churchill made the most scathing criticism of General Dyer’s action. He described it as "an episode which appeared to be without parallel in the modern history of the British Empire". History bears ample testimony to the fact that the ill-conceived and unwarranted 1919 military operation proved to be a catalyst for bringing the doom of the British Raj as it created an unbridgeable gulf between the British Government and the Indian people, leaving the British with no other option but to transfer power to the Indians.

K.M. VASHISHT
Mansa

Aping the West

Apropos of the column on fashion, our younger generation is aping the West in every walk of life by discarding Indian dresses, outfits and culture. To popularise new styles of fashion in dresses, fashion shows are being held even in small towns. In these shows, mostly western dresses are shown which are worn by very few people in the country. All our dress designers design dresses which are imitations of western dresses and seldom care to design clothes incorporating Indian traditions and designs. Most of the foreigners come to India to get a feel of the spiritual and cultural splendour this country offers, but are dismayed to see us and our younger generation aping the West in dress, fashion, outfit, language and food habits .

O.P. SHARMA
Faridabad