Jallianwala Bagh Massacre - an incident that shocked India
Wednesday, August 4, 2021
Independence Day is considered as one of the national festival of India. As an Indian can we celebrate this festival with happiness like republic day or Gandhi jayanti? Because it is not a day of birth or a day of joy. Instead it is a day of rememberence of those who died during the Indian struggle for independence. Year after year we forget the importance of this day, instead we celebrate it as a holiday with pomp and joy. Among many massacres that took, the most heart breaking massacre was the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
On 13 April 1919, a huge crowd of people assembled in Jallianwala Bagh. As the name indicates it is a garden with big walls surrounding all the three sides except for the entrance. Few minutes later almost 379 people are killed and another 1200 were injured. Just a word from the commanding British brigardier general caused the loss of these innocent people’s lives. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre or the Amristar massacre occurred on the festival Baisakhi, it was an incident that shocked India. General Dyer the commanding officer and his men kept on shooting even when the protesters were trying to flee, until their ammunition went down. There was no escape for the protesters as the British soldiers surrounded the entrance. The other three sides were enclosed with buildings, so the only way to exit was through the entrance.
This event caused many Indians to abandon their previous loyalty to the British. After the massacre Gandhi started a new movement on 1920 called the non-cooperation movement. As a sign of protest he returned the Kaiser-e-Hind medal which was awarded to him by the British Empire. Dyer was praised by some in britan and indeed became a hero. The House of Lords gave him a sword inscribed with the motto ‘Saviour of the Punjab’. I feel they should be ashamed of themselves to award a prize to murderer.
On 13 March 1940, at Caxton Hall in London, Udham Singh, an Indian independence activist, who had witnessed the events in Amritsar, shot and killed Michael O'Dwyer, the Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab at the time of the massacre, who had approved Dyer's action and was believed to have been the main planner. There is even a well called martyers well, from which 120 bodies were recovered. Till today the bullet marks still remain on the walls.
India is a diverse nation were unity and togetherness go hand in hand. It has been almost 75 years since we got our independence. During the rule of the Phirangi sahebs we suffered a lot of things like massacres, hangings, bombings, killings and many more horrible things, but now we can breathe freely. If it weren’t for those patriotic souls who gave their blood to liberate our nation we couldn’t have cherished the comforts we have now. The joy, pride, gaiety and freedom was all granted, thanks to those gallant spirits.
15th August 1947 was a day for all Indians to be proud, the day when our ancestors got the result of their struggle, the day we breathed the aroma of liberty, the day we got back our nation. Not a divided nation but a unified land. It was a day India rewrote history, by becoming the largest democracy in the world. As an Indian staying in Kuwait, I feel proud to be the descendent of those great warriors. Without looking back at their family, children, relatives or parents they took step forward, not with a weapon but with their patriotic hearts. They didn’t look back at the comforts, happiness, fun, and joy but they looked forward towards the future of our nation.
If you want to reward those great freedom fighters. The best gift might be to live a good and genrous life, with peace, kindness and sincerity. We must remember the brave souls who fought and sacrificed their lives for the liberation of our nation. We should never forget the smell of their blood untill our death. And try to make the next generation, aware of this bloodshed incidents.
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