Some national events, even when they happened almost hundred and five years ago, and some thousands of miles away, continue to haunt us, right? The Jallianwalla Bagh massacre is one such occasion.
It is an episode that in a way precipitated the Freedom Struggle. The common man, too, passionately understood the urgency of the movement. In a way, it clearly bifurcated the two radically different routes as well as attitudes to Independence; the Gandhi method and the Bhagat Singh/Subhash Chandra Bose mode.
The actual site of that colonial atrocity is in Amritsar, next to the Golden Temple. It has a permanent address in most Indian hearts though. The place belonged to the Bains family which hailed from a place called Jalla in Punjab. The place hence actually was Jallewalla Bagh. The horrible firing was such that it literally became perforated with bullets, almost as if it were a net, a jali as in Hindi.
The person responsible for the horror was General Dyer. True to his surname, he dyed even the well there with the blood of innocent civilians who died in the firing on that day. Just a few days before he ordered almost four hundred men, women and children to be shot at sight, he had quelled the Afghan rebellion. He was hence considered the right candidate to curb any disobedience in Punjab.
As it is, 1919 was tough for the British, what with the terrors of the World War I, the horrors of the Spanish flu epidemic, and the looming economic crisis, not to mention the unmistakable rise of Stalin in Russia who defeated a very idealistic vision for his power lust. Very soon Franco, Mussolini, Hitler were to emerge on the European soil itself. Given such volatility back at home, they did not want any political awareness emerging in the colonies, surely not in India, the Kohinoor of the Empire.
The tragedy on April 13, 1919 was so enormous and vicious that back in England, there was a demand for General Dyer's impeachment. The furore was such that the Queen visiting the unfortunate site during the centenary year was expected to ask for forgiveness for the atrocities!
Hundred and five years later, the wheels of fortune have trampled the Eurocentric vision completely so much so that the new king to be, Charles III, wants to open up horror stories such as the British slave trade history. May such reparations against unforgivable injustices ascend, at least in theory, can only be the prayer on this memorial day!
Pratima@"... nothing can erase my rage --- not an apology, nor a sum of money, not the death of the criminal --- for this can never be made right... Can a way be found to make what happened not have happened?", argues Jamaica Kincaid in "A Small Place".
No comments:
Post a Comment