Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Bill introduced in LS

New Delhi: A bill which seeks to remove the Congress president as a permanent member in a trust that runs the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial to make the body “apolitical” was introduced in the Lok Sabha Friday

The Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (amendment) Bill, moved by Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma states that it seeks to “delete” the mention of ‘President of the Indian National Congress’ as a trustee.

The amendment bill also paves way for the leader of the single largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha to be a member of the trust. As of now, only Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha is a member of the trust.

The present Lok Sabha has no leader of the Opposition.

The amendment bill also confers power to the central government to terminate the term of a nominated trustee before the expiry of the term without assigning any reason.

As of now, the trust which manages the memorial, has the Prime Minister as the chairperson, President of Indian National Congress, Culture Minister, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Punjab governor, Punjab CM as its members.

Virendra Kataria, Ambika Soni and Harvendra Singh Hanspal are nominated trustees appointed in 2013 for five years, according to the Culture Ministry website.

Jallianwala Bagh memorial was established in 1951 by the central government to mark the massacre of unarmed people on April 13, 1919 by the British Indian Army under the command of Col. Reginald Dyer.