JALLIANWALA BAGH

About:

• In 2019, approximately Rs 20 crore was earmarked by the Centre for the commemoration of 100 years of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
  
  
• Restoration and conservation work, and the building of facilities such as toilets, ticketing counters, and drinking water, have been undertaken by the Ministry of Culture.
  
  
• The famous ‘Shahidi Khu’ or Martyrs Well, into which people jumped to escape the hail of bullets, is now enclosed in a glass shield — a controversial decision that has been criticised since it is perceived to restrict the view.
  
  

Background

• The monument was first opened by then President Dr Rajendra Prasad on April 13, 1961, as a grateful nation’s tribute to the victims of the massacre on April 13, 1919, when a large crowd had gathered at the Bagh to protest the arrest of nationalist leaders Saifuddin Kitchlu and Satya Pal.
  
  
• In response to the massive gathering, the British officer Col. Reginald Edward Harry Dyer ordered his troops to fire into the crowd, killing several hundred people.