Amitabh Bachchan baritone scares Congress president away

Did Amitabh Bachchan prompt the cancellation of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s visit to Amritsar for a function to mark the Jallianwala Bagh massacre’s anniversary?

An elaborate plan had been drawn up and Sonia, former chairwoman of Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Trust, was to address a public meeting after inaugurating the much-hyped light and sound programme at the bagh on April 13 to simultaneously observe the 125th anniversary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and the 91st anniversary of the massacre.

However, the fact that Amitabh has lent his voice to the 30-minute programme sparked a controversy in Punjab Congress. The actor narrates the entire sequence of the historic event in the programme, which has been waiting to see the light of day for months.

Punjab Congress president MS Kaypee quickly dissociated the party from the programme, saying it was a project of the Centre and as such, the Congress had nothing to do with it. Senior party leaders admitted that due to the on-going war of nerves between the Congress and the Bachchan family, AICC functionaries were reluctant to be seen associated with the function.

“Sonia cancelled the programme after every detail of her visit had been finalised,” a former cabinet minister said.

Kaypee, however, clarified that her visit had been cancelled due to security reasons, not the Bachchan factor.

Meanwhile, efforts are on to list details of people who were massacred in the bagh in 1919. Officials said the British claim of 381 deaths was being verified. New findings conclude that at least 451 people were killed, an official said.

“It was to escape the wrath of liberals in India and opposition parties in England that the British downplayed the Jallianwala killings. But we now have irrefutable evidence that at least 70 more people were massacred, possibly more. Though the dispute over the list won’t end, we have, for the first time, managed to update it,” he said.