Congress opposes as Jallianwala Bagh Bill introduced in LS

The Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (amendment) Bill, which seeks removal of the Congress president as a permanent member from the trust that runs the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial had been introduced in the Lok Sabha today.

The Bill was supposedly introduced to make the body "apolitical", which raised an uproar of opposition by the Congress.

The Jallianwala Bagh Bill had been moved by Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel, who said that it aims to "delete" the term 'President of the Indian National Congress' as a trustee.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor stated that his party opposes the bill as it is a "denial of heritage of the country", adding, "…it should be stopped. It is a national memorial, do not betray our history and heritage."

It may be noted that the amendment bill will clear the path for the leader of the BJP party, which is the single largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha, from becoming a member of the trust. Presently, only the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha is a member of the trust.

Simultaneously, the Jallianwala Bagh bill will also empower the centre to end the term of a nominated trustee before the expiry of the term without assigning any reason.

The Prime Minister is the chairperson, President of Indian National Congress, Culture Minister, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Punjab governor, Punjab CM as are members of the trust.