LS-JALLIANWALA TRUST

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.