Mr. Muktesh Pardeshi, Charanjit Singh (Co Leader of this project from Ekta NZ), Dr. Shekhar Bandyopadhyay (Professor Asian History and Director of NZ IRI, Vic Uni and Ganeev Kaur Dhillon (curator from the Partition Museum)
Ganeev Kaur Dhillon (curator from the Partition Museum), Sunita Musa (Ekta NZ Project Leader), Chief Govt Whip Mr. Michael Wood and Mrs. Geetha Grewal (Ekta NZ Volunteer)
Race Relations Commissioner – Mr. Meng Foon with attendees of the launch
Ekta Foundation’s, Jallianwala Bagh Massacre Photo Exhibition curated by the Partition Museum of Amritsar, India, was officially launched on November 21, by Labour MP Michael Wood and the Indian High Commissioner to New Zealand, Muktesh Pardeshi. The exhibition ran for a week, ending on November 28.
The opening ceremony – which saw the massacre’s history being told through videos – was attended by around 100 Wellingtonians, including local Members of Parliament, members of the Diplomatic Corp, the Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon, as well as several community and faith leaders.
Speaking at the launch, Professor Shekhar Bandyopadhyay of Victoria University, highlighted the real learning from the tragic episode which “is that rightful protest by public cannot be put down state oppression”. He noted, “General Dyer’s use of brute force to break the morale of the people resulted in the start of the crumbling of the mighty British Empire.”
On his part, the Indian High Commissioner, highlighted the role of Mahatma Gandhi’s satyagraha movement which picked-up steam after the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.
Meanwhile, Labour MP Michael Wood in his address, shared a picture of the Archbishop of the Anglican church prostrating at the memorial of the Jallianwala Bagh. An Anglican himself, Mr Wood said he identified completely with the regret that the Archbishop expressed.
Sunita Musa and Charanjit Singh from the Ekta Foundation, who co-chaired the project, stressed on the “community’s responsibility towards the 400 or so people who were killed that Vaisakhi Day to tell their story”. “We should not forget these Shaheed’s nor their sacrifices. We had a Remembrance ceremony on 12 April and have now brought the photo exhibition. Wellington is the second city in the world to host this exhibition outside India. “
Ganeev Dhillon, the curator of the exhibition who had come especially from Amritsar also noted, “It is very encouraging to see the level of interest that the audience was shown in the subject. We are glad that the Partition Museum was able to bring the exhibition to Wellington through Ekta.”
“The figure we have used is the one given in the Hunter Commission. The Indian National Congress had commissioned its own inquiry and their figure is around the figure that you are quoting. The Partition Museum through its own research has been able to identify 547 people of which 502 are identified by name and 47 as ‘unidentified’.” – Ekta Foundation on the question by The Indian News, if the number of people massacred that day was in thousands, as is widely believed in India.
-Gaurav Sharma