In the ongoing Winter session of the parliament, the Upper House (Rajya Sabha) approved the Jallianwalla Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill 2019 on Tuesday. The bill has been passed previously by the Lok Sabha in the last session.
The Bill was passed by the voice vote, after which a reply by Union Culture Minister Prahlad Patel was followed on the matter. The Bill seeks to amend Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Act,1951. The Bill calls for erecting the National Memorial in the memory of those killed in Jallianwala Bagh massacre on 13 April 1919 by Acting Brigadier-General Reginal Dyer.
The bill proposes to remove the Congress president as a permanent member in a trust that runs the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial. This is being done to de-politicize the institution. Therefore, the bill was previously rejected by 16th Rajya sabha owing to strong opposition by Congress members. Pratap Singh Bajwa of Congress party raised his objections to the Bill and termed it as cynical.
Congress leader Gurjeet Singh Aujla had slammed the government for trying to erase Congress from the history.
It has been said that the new version of the bill will seek to ensure the representation of the Opposition Party in the Trust. The bill will also enable the Union government to terminate the term of a nominated trustee before the expiry of the ongoing period of his term, without giving any reason.