54 Rajya Sabha ___*Synopsis of Debate
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RAJYA SABHA _______ SYNOPSIS OF DEBATE _______ (Proceedings other than Questions and Answers) _______ Tuesday, November 19, 2019 / Kartika 28, 1941 (Saka) _______ OBITUARY REFERENCE MR. CHAIRMAN: Hon. Members, I refer with profound sorrow to the passing away of Mr. Robert Mugabe, former President of Zimbabwe, on the 6th of September, 2019, at the age of 95 years. An iconic pan-African leader, Mr. Robert Mugabe played an instrumental role in leading Zimbabwe to its independence in the year 1980. An ardent votary of African issues and pan-African unity, he served as the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and as the President of Zimbabwe from 1987 to 2017. He devoted his whole life to the benefit of the people of Zimbabwe. He served as the Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1986 to 1989. Mr. Mugabe was a true friend of India and contributed immensely to India-Zimbabwe friendship. His demise is an irreparable loss to the Republic of Zimbabwe and its people. In his demise, the world has lost one of the tallest leaders of our times. ___________________________________________________ This Synopsis is not an authoritative record of the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha. 54 This House joins the bereaved family, the Government and the people of the Republic of Zimbabwe in mourning the passing away of Mr. Robert Mugabe and conveys its heartfelt condolences to them in their hour of grief. We deeply mourn the passing away of Mr. Robert Mugabe. (One Minute’s silence was observed as a mark of respect to the memory of the departed.) _______ Felicitations to Shri Abhijit Banerjee for winning Nobel Prize in Economics for the Year 2019 MR. CHAIRMAN: Hon. Members, as you are aware, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel (commonly referred to as the Nobel Prize in Economics) for the year 2019 to Shri Abhijit Banerjee, along with Ms. Esther Duflo and Mr. Michael Kremer, for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty. With this achievement, Shri Abhijit Banerjee has joined the coveted list of Indian and Indian origin Nobel Laureates. This is indeed a matter of great pride for the entire nation. Shri Banerjee, an Indian origin economist, who is currently the Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at MIT, USA, along with his fellow awardees, has been instrumental in developing a new experiment-based approach in devising methods to fight global poverty and address problems pertaining to health and education. As a direct outcome of this experiment-based approach, more than five million Indian children have benefitted from effective programmes of remedial tutoring in schools. 55 I am sure, the whole House will join me in congratulating the Nobel Laureate, Shri Abhijit Banerjee, on his achievement. We wish him the very best for his future endeavours. _______ GOVERNMENT BILLS 1. The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 1987 The Bill was, by leave of the House, withdrawn. 2. The National Commission for Human Resources for Health Bill, 2011 The Bill was, by leave of the House, withdrawn. 3. The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 2013 The Bill was, by leave of the House, withdrawn. The Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill, 2019 - Contd. THE MINISTER OF STATE OF THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND THE MINISTER OF STATE OF THE MINISTRY OF TOURISM (SHRI PRAHALAD SINGH PATEL): I had introduced this Bill in front of the House on the last day of the session during the last session. The amendments that are in it are very small amendments. We have introduced three amendments in The Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Act, 1951. The amendment to clause (d) states that the Leader of the opposition party recognized as such in the House of the people or where there is no such Leader of the Opposition, then the Leader of the single largest opposition party in that House. According to Section 4, if a trustee has 56 a tenure of 5 years, if the Government wishes, the tenure can be reduced before 5 years and can do reappointment.100 years have passed since Jallianwala Bagh incident, it is a national memorial. All the people of the country should have participation in it. I request to the House that we all pass this Bill. SHRI PARTAP SINGH BAJWA: Many people have objection to the amendments of this Bill, especially those who follow the ideology of the Indian National Congress and those who have contributed to the independence of the country. The President of the Congress is the ex-officio President of the Jallianwala Bagh Trust because the history of the Congress is connected with Jallianwala Bagh. The historical thing of Baisakhi festival in Punjab is that on 13 April 1699, Guru Gobind Singh Maharaj formed the Khalsa Panth at Anantapur Sahib. The second thing is that at that time the harvesting of wheat starts and on the day of Baisakhi the crop comes at the farmer's house. In the year 1919 Punjab, there were demonstrations against the British government because the Rowlatt Act was in place at that time. At that time, very important leaders of Congress Saifuddin Kichlu Saheb and Dr. Satyapal Ji were arrested. People demanded that they should be released. At that time Michael O Dyer was the Deputy Governor of Punjab. He and General Dyer's wanted to teach Punjabi persons a lesson. People gathered peacefully at the Jallianwala Bagh outside the Golden Temple on the Baisakhi festival. 1,700 rounds of fire were fired at people who were demonstrating peacefully there. The British say 380 people were died. At that time Motilal Nehru was the president of the Congress, he conducted his own investigation according to which around 1,500 people were killed. This was the first spark to get free the country, then Shaheed Udham Singh was a small child of 18 years old. He took that revenge from Lieutenant General after 20 years in England. At that time Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya and Sasthi Charan Mukherjee Sahab were very big leaders of the Indian National Congress. After this incident, an emergency session of the Congress was called in Amritsar which lasted for four days from 27 December 1919 to 1 January 1920. It was decided to build a memorial there in it. After that a memorial was 57 established there and the trust came into existence. We no longer need to rewrite history. The government can increase the number of its nominated members in it, but the Congress President should not be separated from this trust. The Congress President should remain an ex-officio member. The local representative of Amritsar should also be a member of this trust. We also object to the removal of a trustee by the government. We are celebrating 100 years of martyrs. On this occasion, I request that Shaheedazam Bhagat Singh should be awarded Bharat Ratna this year. I would request the Minister to withdraw this Bill. SHRI SHWAIT MALIK: I rise to speak on the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill, 2019. I support this bill. I am a resident of Amritsar and the land of Amritsar is the prime land of sacrifice. The purpose of this bill is that no political party should dominate the martyrdom sites. According to this bill, the leader of the opposition or the leader of the largest group of opposition party in Parliament will be a member of this trust. They can belong to any party. A very gruesome massacre took place in Jallianwala Bagh. On April 13, 1919, thousands of people gathered at Jallianwala Bagh to protest peacefully against the Rowlatt Act. Baisakhi is considered a festival like Diwali in Punjab. The dictator, Brigadier General Dyer, brought a troop of 100 men. There is a narrow street for entry, Brigadier General Dyer fired thousands of rounds at those who were sitting there peacefully. Those unarmed people could not even protect themselves. People jumped into the well to save their lives. About 1800 to 2000 people were died. It was then considered in 1920 to build a memorial trust there. In 1961, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Ji established a trust there. For a long time there was a congress-directed trust there, and that place was in very poor condition. Today I thank the Prime Minister that he has started spectacular development work there. The incident of Jallianwala Bagh has completed 100 years and the Prime Minister did many programs till 2019. Shri Rajnath Singh ji has also unveiled a statue of Shaheed Udham Singh ji there. There a coin is released and a postal stamp has also been released. This is the efficiency of Modi ji's trust. A good light and sound show 58 will be shown there. The work of preserving the bullet marks there is going on. There is also work going on for 3D show. New fountains are being installed at this place. Drinking water is being provided. New toilets are being built. Air conditioned gallery is being built there. Old photos have been placed there. Guide facility will be provided there. I would request Hon'ble Minister to open this place by 8.30 pm or 9.30 pm. I would like to thank the government that it is organizing events all over the country to celebrate 100 years of Jallianwala Bagh. SHRI SUKHENDU SEKHAR RAY: Jallianwala Bagh is like a place of pilgrimage for us. Shri Rabindranath Tagore wrote a letter to the then Viceroy, Jamesford with regard to this incident. He later appealed to give up his title.