New Delhi: Exactly 93 years back from today, a peaceful gathering of a crowd comprising of mostly villagers was turned into the most horrendous spectacle of cruelty against Indians by the then British rulers eventually rolling the wheel of patriotism which ultimately culminated with
New Delhi: Exactly 93 years back from today, a peaceful gathering of a crowd comprising of mostly villagers was turned into the most horrendous spectacle of cruelty against Indians by the then British rulers eventually rolling the wheel of patriotism which ultimately culminated with India's freedom.
That unfortunate tragic event was the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
On the Baisakhi day of April 13, 1919 a group of some 15,000 to 20,000 people had gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh near the Harminder Sahib in Amritsar for a fair unaware that a ban on meetings was in place in the wake of Mahatma Gandhi's nationwide protest of the Rowlatt Act.
At around 5:30 pm in the evening – an hour into the meet – Brigadier General Reginald Dyer arrived with as many as 90 officers and two armoured cars. At least 50 of his men were armed. Without issuing any warning or provocation, Dyer ordered his troops to open fire. What unfolded is still considered as the most gruesome killings in the history of India and a blot on the face of humanity.
The extent of Dyer's cruelty can be gauged from the fact that he did not order his troops to stop firing and they continued pumping bullets into the bodies of unarmed men, women and children until their ammunition was almost exhausted.
There was no way out of the Bagh for the helpless people because the area was bounded by buildings on all sides with few narrow passages leading to it. Nearly all the passages were blocked either permanently or were guarded by Dyer's men. The brutal British army officer had himself stepped foot in the complex through the main entrance.
Official estimates of the deaths were 379 but actual figures were much higher and stands at an estimated over 1500 casualties from 1650 rounds that was fired.
The senseless firing and lack of escape routes had also sparked a stampede. Moreover a plaque erected post-independence at the site states that around 210 bodies were alone pulled out of the solitary well in which people had jumped to escape firing.
The inhuman act against the Indians at that time appears satanic especially after Dyer's reported confession that he rued not being able to use the armoured vehicles because they could not enter the narrow passageway. Facing the Hunter Commission after the massacre, Dyer admitted to have been aware of the presence of women and children in the crowd yet he decided to open fire to leave a "moral effect" on the people of India.
Dyer also insensately remarked that he was not concerned about providing medical treatment