Amritsar district administration’s signboard at Heritage Street invites political commentary

The district administration’s attempt to revive the Heritage Walk route and create pause points along the route by putting up signboards took an unexpected political turn as it came under fire for putting up a board at the chowk leading to Katra Ahluwalia, terming it as ‘Jalebi Wala Chowk’.

The issue was highlighted as some locals pointed out on social media that the ‘Jalebi Wala Chowk’ is actually called Katra Ahluwalia Chowk, historically. Today, former Deputy Chief Minister and SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal posted a tweet, calling it the AAP government’s “shameful attempt at erasing Sikh history”. Badal, in his tweet, mentioned that the historic Katra Ahluwalia Chowk was being renamed ‘Jalebi Wala Chowk’.

Meanwhile, the district administration removed the signboard as the matter was raised on social media. The district administration and the Department of Tourism had put signboards with QR codes along the Heritage Walk route, reviving the route for tourists. As starting points on the route, the Saragarhi Gurdwara and Qila Ahluwalia, too, had the same signboards installed in front of these, with a signboard put up at the Katra Ahluwalia Chowk, serving as a pause point.

Responding to the situation, Amritsar Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney said, “These boards were put up to help tourists navigate through the Heritage Walk without being hassled as the QR codes give access to all the history and general information regarding the specific pause points along the route. There is no attempt, in any way, to rename any point. This issue should not be politicised. We are open to suggestions and additions to these boards and so, we have asked to get this signboard removed.”

History of Katra Ahluwalia

Katra Ahluwalia was established by Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, one of the most influential Misl leaders of the Sikh empire. He has established it as trade and commerce centre and it continues to be a centre of commerce with wholesale market for chemicals, dyes, paints and several other commodities. The chowks inside the walled city, however, were developed by the British. The chowk also got famous over the years due to a jalebi shop which was established in 1956. Over the years, it got popularity with the onset of food tourism to the holy city as tourists thronged the area, enjoying the jalebis.

Historically, the chowk also became a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity as in 1919, the members of both communities came together to celebrate Ram Navami at the chowk, defying the British Raj and its divisive policies.

To promote history and heritage: DC

• The Deputy Commissioner tried to extend the Heritage Walk to the new generation by digitising it with QR code. Through scanning this code, any tourist could know the details of the routes and buildings in English, Punjabi and Hindi.
• With coded pictures about the places, the history opens up before the listener like a book. The Deputy Commissioner said in their effort to present the heritage and history of the city to the next generation, they would find a suitable alternative.

  .