101 Years of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

The events of April 13, 1919 are just one of the many excruciating acts by the British Raj that killed hundreds. The bullet marks of that days still exist.

Source: https://www.cpiml.net/liberation/2019/03/100-years-of-the-jallianwala-bagh-massacre

A cursory glance depicts the heavy handedness of imperial powers, shades of which are evident even today. The history of British colonialism reveals a plethora of ghastly, inhumane acts of violence. But the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre that took place exactly a century ago, still leaves our nation speechless.

And what is important is to trace back and recapitulate the grim incident.

Amritsar had observed a ‘hartal’ on April 6 1919 in response to the Rowlatt Act which gave immense powers to the police to search and arrest without warrant. On 13th April 1919, thousands of people had gathered at the Bagh to celebrate the auspicious festival of ‘Baishaki and also in defiance of the orders. They also condemned the deportation of national leaders like Satya Pal etc. But what must be emphasised is that the entire assembly was unarmed and peaceful.

Nearly around 4:30 pm the same day, Brigadier General Reginald Dyer commanded a regiment of 50 riflemen to open fire the unarmed crowd. It was a matter of 10 minutes within which all exits were closed and 1650 rounds were fired leaving around 300 dead and 1100 wounded. Unable to escape , many tried climbing walls and helplessly jumped into the well, which till date rests inside the park. Thousands of unattended corpses laid, deploring the untimely separation. This was followed by a series of protests and rebukes from all ends of British India with Jinnah making a strong anti-British speech at a public meet to Gandhiji returning the medals given to him for his service.

The bullet marks still remain on the walls and adjoining buildings. A few years back the British President Theresa May said they “regretted” the mishap. Recently a lot of debates have followed over the British Government still not issuing a formal apology on account of the Massacre. But can the “regrets” and long awaited apology heal the wounds Indians felt? This heinous act will always remain engraved in history as a blot on humanity. The sacrifice of the martyrs will never be forgotten.

United, we still mourn.