05/05/2025
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๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐: ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐ & ๐๐๐๐๐๐
The Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Aliah University, organized a reflective event titled โ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ง๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ก: ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ, ๐๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ & ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฒโ on 30th April 2025 at the Seminar Hall, Park Circus campus.
This session, held from 2:00 PM to 4:30 PM, commemorated the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 13th April 1919 and brought together students of JMC but also those from Education, History, and other departments, besides faculty members and guests, all of whom remained engaged throughout the program.
The event began with an introduction to the theme and historical background to the Jallianwala Bagh event by Dr Shamim Firdous, HoD, Deppartment of History, AU followed by the screening of two impactful documentariesโ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ข ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฉ, which revisited the tragic incident through historical footage, survivor accounts, and expert commentary, and ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ข ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฉ: ๐๐ณ. ๐๐ข๐ช๐ง๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ช๐ต๐ค๐ฉ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ธ, which offered deeper insights into the life and contributions of Dr. Kitchlew, a key freedom movement leader. Both documentaries were informative and natural in tone, enriching the audienceโs understanding of lesser-known aspects of the struggle.
Later, a special lecture was delivered by independent researcher, writer, and curator Sarmistha Dutta Gupta, based on her recent book ๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐ก๐ก๐๐๐ฃ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฝ๐๐๐ ๐
๐ค๐ช๐ง๐ฃ๐๐ก๐จ (2024). Her talk offered a powerful, humanistic narrative that highlighted the collective participation and sacrifice of Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and others during the massacre, countering the often blunt or superficial representations of such historical events.
She emphasized how Jallianwala Bagh should not just be viewed as a tourist site but as a symbol of unity, resistance, and memory. Her book seeks to question public perceptions of the past, recover forgotten or erased narratives, and resist the depersonalization common in statist histories.
She also traces the connections between colonial, nationalist, and post-colonial commemorative narratives, linking them to ongoing patterns of state oppression. Furthermore, her work represents a pedagogical experiment in public history through installations and new forms of writing, drawing from multiple archives and diverse registers of memory to generate fresh, inclusive narratives.
Prof Sharmistha Chatterjee, Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Languages, chaired the session and shared insightful thoughts on the lecture. The formal Vote of Thanks was later delivered by Dr Kaifia Ancer Laskar, HoD (officiating), JMC Department.
The event was both productive and enlightening, offering students and attendees a deeper appreciation of history, memory, and the power of storytelling. It emphasized how important it is for the younger generations to know and have unity amongst them and remember the forgotten heroes.
[๐๐๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ง ๐๐๐ก๐๐ซ (๐๐-๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐-๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐๐ง๐ญ)]
