Today (April 13) in 1919, the most tragic event of the Jallianwala Bagh masaccre took place. Around 20000 people had gathered on the auspicious day of Baisakhi at Jalianwala Bagh, adjacent to Golden Temple (Amritsar), to lodge their protest peacefully against persecution by the British Indian Government. Just before sunset, General Dyre arrived with this batallion and opened fire indiscriminately at innocent empty handed people leaving hundreds of people dead, including women and children. Around 1650 rounds were fired into the crowd. The crowd was not even warned to disperse nor did they have any other way to exit the grounds other than the one that the General and his batallion were blocking. The only other place they could hide was a well. So people started jumping in the well to save themselves, only to find that the ones that followed suit were crushing them below the water. Many innocent lives were lost in this.
The official report accounts for 379 deaths. But it could quite be possible that the death toll might have been as high as 1000 or more. People who died even included the tourists (men, women, and children) who had come to Amritsar to celebrate the Baishaki festival. Udham Singh, a Sikh teenager who was being raised at Khalsa Orphanage, saw the happening on April 13, 1919 with his own eyes and avenged the killings of 1300+ of his countrymen by killing Michael O'Dwyer in London.
The details on these massacre can be found in detail at
http://www.punjabilok.com/misc/freedom/jallianwala_bagh.htm
http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/events/jbagh.html
How many of us really remember this day from our history? Though there is a historical monument built in Amristar for these martyrs, how many visit that place or even think of them? Do any of us even remember the lives lost in this massacre and pay homage to them? Don't they deserve a nation wide respect and rememberence?
I salute to all those noble and innocent souls that died in the massacre on this day in 1919 and wish and hope that nothing as tragic as that ever happens here after. I pray that their souls rest in peace.
Rthi,
ReplyDeleteHow did you end up in 1919? Hope the current unrest / blasts do not escalate and lead to loss of lives of similar magnitude. In 1919 the 'enemy' was visible - who is the enemy now??
Very true. This incident (Jallianwala Bagh) makes me feel sore due the innocent lives that were lost for no reason. Similar incidents are still happening but as you said, the enemy is not visible. In such situation only awareness can help overcome the unknown enemy. But how do we spread awareness? How do we become aware ourselves in matters where we lack awareness?
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