The Jallianwala Bagh massacre

The incident of Jallianwala Bagh killings has gone to the annals of British Indian archives and has since become history. A lot of enquiries and commissions were held, a lot other studies by history students and academics have been made,

a lot of dissertation papers were prepared and defended but the wound is still lying deep in the mind of freedom loving Indians, those progressive Indians and their descendants who could think ahead of their time. And mind you, by Indians, I make reference to the Indo Pak subcontinent, because in that period it was one entity.

We are talking of 13th April 1919.It was the Baisakhi Day. In many parts of India this is observed with much fanfare and has different names and perspectives. One thing is common in most of the places. It marks the festivities after a successful harvest of main crops like rice and wheat.

In Assam it's Bihu, in Tripura its Bihu, in Bengal its Baisakhi or Naboborsho, in Tamil Nadu its Pongal. Similarly in Punjab it's Baisakhi. The tenth and last Sikh Guru, Govind Singh ji has floated the idea of Khalsa declaring Sikhs as a martial nation and urged them to observe the festival with traditional martial arts, folk dances, religious choirs and different forms of enjoyment.

As most of us know that Golden Temple is the biggest and most important Sikh prayer houses in the whole world. It was only natural that a large crowd gathered there to observe this sacred festival. We have to remember here that it was historically a difficult and disturbing time in India. During the first WW (1914-1918) Indian movement for self rule and anti British struggle gained momentum.

The ruler British were colonialists and played all tricks to gain support of their direct Indian subjects and different so called semi independent Rajas and Nawabs by pulling their support in their favor and agreeing to greater autonomy and benevolent perks after their win. They won alright but conveniently forgot all their promises. Rather their grip tightened on those Indian Nationalists who kept on demanding their rights.

Some of us may know and some others may not that Jallianwala Bagh is a small garden at a stone's throw distance from the sacred Golden temple. It has only one narrow entrance/exit of not more than 2meters width and completely surrounded by residential buildings making it an almost circular bound place with the narrow opening. There is a 100ft diameter well at the center with very little water in it.

The place belonged to Mr. Jimmy Singh's family and they were from a place called Jalla. A flower orchard belonging to the family existed there once and the well was for watering the flower plants. Hence the name Jallianwala Bagh. It was a popular hangout for people before or after visiting the Golden Temple. By 1919 the Bagh was almost nonexistent but a few towering trees and a few flowering plants were still there.

As I have mentioned earlier, it was a tense time between the British rulers and the freedom loving Indians. Situation was particularly very grave in Punjab and Bengal, the two most revolutionary places of the British Indian Empire. Gandhi was taking preparations for his Quit India Movement, to be floated soon.

Britishers did not keep their promise of greater autonomy to Indians leading slowly to self rule; rather Rowlatt Act was promulgated to curb some of the existing facilities. Gandhi ji was barred from entering Punjab to further his political moves, Punjabi revolutionaries Satyapal and Saifuddin Kitchlew were whisked off to some unknown destination. Night curfew was imposed and assembly of more than four persons was banned in Amritsar.

These steps were taken to forcefully bog down the fierce public opinion that was fast developing amongst the population in different parts of Punjab Reginald Dyer, a Colonel in the British Indian Punjab army was in the Jalandhar garrison.

He was known for his war capabilities in Anglo Burma, Anglo Afghan and other wars and was regarded as a revengeful and cruel general was promoted as a temporary Brigadier General and called to Amritsar to control the ongoing political unrest in Punjab and for that matter whole India.

Some of the Britishers thought that the movement was turning into an all-out anti British mutiny like the 1857 Sepoy mutiny. British interests were in danger and at some places individual British citizens were also manhandled, the happenings very few though and the incumbents were always saved by other Indians who were more sensible. There had been no British casualty till then in Punjab.

Though Lahore was the capital, Amritsar became the hotbed of Indian agitations. Dyer had an established and publicized notion that Indians are not enough enlightened to be allowed free speech and self rule. So, he was brought to the command of Amritsar to teach the natives a lesson. He did it quite successfully which earned him the title of Butcher of Amritsar As already discussed, it was a day of celebration. Baisakhi is the biggest conceivable festival in Punjab.

Thousands of people come to Golden temple on this day. Melas are organized everywhere. Even during the tense political situation our people of the subcontinent take it sportingly. So people were in festive mood. But the British intelligence had some tipped off that there will be a political agitation staged in Jallianwala Bagh in the afternoon.

Dyer declared a ban on any political speech and prohibited an assembly of more than 4people together. This he did in the noon time on getting his intelligence report. In the afternoon many people went there to relax after a visit to the Gurdwara, as they were used to do. Some went there to spend time.

But some freedom loving people also went there to chant slogans and demand release of Dr Satyapal and Advocate Saifuddin Kitchlew who were detained without showing any reason. Even their whereabouts were not known till then for 3 days. They also wanted to have permission for Gandhiji to visit Punjab. Most of these people were not even aware of the restrictions clamped upon the city because the info was not properly and sufficiently disseminated.

Now on the other hand Punjab Lt Governor O'Dwyer and acting Brig Gen Dyer saw it as a chance of showing their chivalry and faith to the Crown. They declared the gathering as a den of anti state activity and conspiracy for the freedom of India and decided to teach the Indians a lesson.

Dyer went with his Gurkha and Sikh army personnel, put an armored vehicle at the paltry entry/exit point, did not issue any notice to vacate the premise or scare people by blank shots to flee, as is the usual practice. Instead bullets flew incessantly towards the unarmed mostly festive people, men, women and children indiscriminately. People ran aimlessly. The only escape route was blocked by armed Gurkhas. Some jumped into the well to save themselves from bullets but we're not spared.

It is said that 120 dead bodies were dragged out of the well. Many bullet marks on some walls inside the Bagh are still distinct after 100years This brutal attack enraged whole of India and protests were so strong that the British Government had to constitute a Commission of enquiry namely Hunter Commission. It established the number of dead as 379 but Indian National congress figures were around 1000dead and about 500wounded.

The Commission found that the armed forces under Dyer had 1650 rounds of ammunitions and the savage force emptied it in totality on the mass. Dyer testified that he could have disperse the crowd by keeping the narrow exit open and scaring them with blank fire.

But his intention was otherwise. He wanted to teach the revolting Indians a lesson and to horrify them to such an extent that the British Raj remained out of any danger or agitation. And he was not repentant for his rowdy behavior unlike a civilized army commander.

He was criticized by the commission and barred from pending promotion. He also was declared unfit for further posting in the region and had to go back to England. He was not court martialed since it was determined by the Government that he was acting on orders. In England the Parliament also disapproved his excesses and Winston Churchill, the then Secretary of State for War also condemned his action after the House of Commons voted 247-37 against Dyer's action.

However, in House of Lord's some members praised his action to safeguard British interest.After the incident the British Army dealt a lot in amending its SOP to handle public agitation by armed forces in much softer way.Reginald Dyer had a natural death in 1927.

Indians held military commander Dyer, Punjab Lt Governor Michael O'Dwyer and Viceroy Chelmsford responsible for this barbaric act. An young man of Pnjab, Udham Singh,inspired by revolutionary ideas took it on him to avenge the cruelty on his countryman. He sacrificed everything in life and his future and wanted only revenge.

He went to England and was trying to get the perpetrators. Dyer has died before Udham could lay hand on him. But O'Dwyer could not escape. Udham Singh followed him and on 13 March 1940, 21years after the incident it was his day. He killed O'Dwyer in front of Caxton Hall and that was his revenge on behalf of his countrymen. Our poet Rabindranath Tagore also renounced his Knighthood protesting against this killing.

We note with regret that British Government is yet to come up with a formal apology for their cowardice and an unwarranted genocide by a professional army on an a unarmed civil gathering. Though regrets have been expressed in several forms on various occasions such acts demand for a full apology. It is never too late to be sorry even if it is on behalf of your predecessor.

The premise now has a monument to the fallen, the well where the people jumped and were shot, a small museum and walls with bullet marks of Dyer's army. During my recent visit with Anjana and my Punjabi friend Bhalla, we found huge construction work in progress to upgrade and beautify the place. I hope heritage will not be overlooked.
By the way, a statue honoring the hero Udham Sing stands proud at the entrance of the Bagh.


The writer is a heritage hunter and loves travelling.