New look of Jallianwala Bagh a distortion of history, say historians

The new look of the Jallianwala Bagh memorial that Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation on August 28 has distorted the site's history. Historians said on Monday that British troops massacred Indians on 13 April 1919. Modi inaugurated four new galleries virtually and opened the renovated memorial a year-and-a-half after it was closed for the revamp. When the forces directed by Reginald Dyer opened fire, victims jumped into a well which has been covered with a transparent barrier. The narrow entrance was adorned with sculptures. A daily sound and light show has started explaining the events. Historian and former Jawaharlal Nehru University professor Chaman Lal told the media reacting to the development that it was a distortion of history and the project tried to mystify and glamourise history. Professor Lal said that people visiting should go with a sense of pain and anguish, and now they have tried to make it a space for enjoying, with a beautiful garden, and it was not a beautiful garden. Instead, Jallianwala Bagh was where Indians gathered on that fateful day when Dyer and his forces entered and fired on a peaceful crowd. The government has renovated the place, adding new features instead of restoration. Historian S Irfan Habib told the media that he was not against additions like a cafe for visitors or better toilets, but the changes made had been at the cost of history and the cost of heritage. He emphasised that it was absolutely gaudy and asked why there should be murals on the wall as it changes the whole idea of the place from where Dyer entered to kill and adding glamour to the little corridor changes the entire visual history, and that history itself is being re-written and renovated, and it is the corporatisation of monuments. He said that the well was not supposed to be covered and the changes were unnecessary and cosmetic in nature and that it is an unfortunate trend. Image Source