The Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill, 2019, already passed from the Lok Sabha in August, will be tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. The bill seeks to remove the Congress President as a permanent member of a trust that runs the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial.
The Bill also seeks to ‘remove’ the mention of ‘President of the Indian National Congress’ as a trustee and empowers the government to remove nominated members.
The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha in August by a voice vote amid protest and walkout by the Congress.
The Bill also mentions that in case there is no Leader of Opposition in the Lower House, the Leader of the single largest Opposition Party will be made the trustee.
Earlier, amendments moved by opposition parties were defeated by a division of votes.
Currently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chairs the trust. Besides the PM, Congress President, the union culture minister, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, and the chief minister and governor of Punjab are on the board.
The Centre’s move comes in the centenary year of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, which took place on 13 April 1919 when the British Army fired indiscriminately into an unarmed crowd of thousands of peaceful protesters in Amritsar on the Baisakhi festival day of April 13, 1919 following the instructions of General Dyer.
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