With Punjab gearing up to commemorate the centenary of Jallianwala bagh massacre, its tableau — depicting the fateful episode — during the 70th Republic Day parade at Rajpath has secured the third position among all the States and UTs.
Achieving the feat after a long gap of 36 years, Punjab had earlier won the honour in 1982, and before that in 1967 — both times winning the third prize for its tableau.
Among the total 22 tableaux from across the states, Tripura’s tableau has won the first prize which depicted the egalitarian, inclusive and diverse social and ethnic culture linked to the Gandhian principles besides splendid attraction of tourism and heritage. The second place was secured by Jammu and Kashmir for its ‘Progress to Prosperity’ tableau.
The award was presented to the winning team by the Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at an event in New Delhi on Monday where Special Principal Secretary to Punjab Chief Minister-cum-Punjab Information and Public Relations’ secretary Gurkirat Kirpal Singh received the award.
Congratulating the State Information and Public Relations Department, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said that the state’s tableau, highlighting the historic Jallianwala Bagh massacre, was the result of the untiring efforts of the team.
Terming the award as an honour for the state and the Punjabis living in different parts of the country and abroad, Capt Amarinder described the tableau as a humble tribute to the centenary commemoration of Jallainawala massacre in April 2019.
“The prize would go a long way in imbibing the spirit of nationalism and patriotism amongst the younger generation,” he said.
Giving details, an official spokesperson said that the Punjab tableau was selected by the National Tableau Selection Committee from among the 16 shortlisted states chosen for the final Republic Day Parade. This was the third successive year when the Punjab Government’s tableau was selected for final Republic Day parade.
The tableau’s trailer portion depicted the scene when General Reginald Dyer had ordered firing on innocent people gathered at Jallianwala Bagh, and the front portion displayed a replica of the memorial built to commemorate the sacrifice of the martyrs.
A separate section has been built to showcase the ‘martyrs well’. The grille-mesh-covered well stands as a proof to the brutal killings on April 13, 1919, when hundreds of innocents had jumped into it in panic during the firing. As per records, 120 bodies were recovered from the well.
