City marks Baisakhi but forgets history

Ludhiana, Punjab: Although most city-based NGOs, clubs and even local political parties busy in campaigning came forward to mark the traditional festival of Baisakhi by throwing parties, they forgot to remember the tragic Jallianwala Bagh tragedy that took place on April 13, 1919 at Amritsar.

“Every Baisakhi, I note that most citizens, including political leaders who lead the nation, forget to remember the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. It is actually a matter of shame to ignore the history,” said city-based Punjabi writer Kulwinder Kaur Minhas, adding that, “It is true that India is a land of festivals and fairs, but if we ask the people, especially youngsters about the history of the festival, they hardly know anything about it.”

Minhas also felt that if the present generation did not throw light on the festivals’ history, the coming generations would hardly know what all their country had gone through.

Sangeeta Lambha, a citybased artist, held the view that forgetting history meant ignoring the nation. “We cannot always blame the younger generation for not knowing their history as the elderly too hardly take any interest to share the history.”

Source: HT