The Hanging Rope

If you thought that a person condemned to hang – is hung by just any rope bought from any neighbour hood shop , think again.

It is a special wax-coated Manila rope that weighs 3 kg and 750 gram and is 16 feet long. It is by mixing 20 yarns and then coated by wax that becomes very soft. The special rope, used for hanging those facing the gallows, is manufactured only in Buxar Central Jail. The rope cost Rs 180 per kg, totalling Rs 675. The rope was manufactured by six to seven inmates of Buxar central jail on a spinning machine under the supervision of technical experts.

This is the rope which will be used to hang Afzal Guru ,who aided & abbeted the terrorists who attacked the Indian Parliament.

There is much debate on what would happen if this person hangs. Does the state then commute his sentence to life imprisonment? What then is the meaning of the hundreds of soldiers/policemen who have lost their lives, due to the actions of people like this terriorist?

We decorate our soliders on one hand , and on the other hand let go of the people who perpetuate such acts against the state.

They have had the affront to attack the symbol of our democracy and hit at the epicenter of India ,to demonstrate that they can strike at any target.

Lets the state demonstrate that it can stand up to any of the threats proposed by whosoever , wherever, whenever……………….

Let Afzal hang……………………………………..by the special wax coated manilla rope ,made in an Indian jail.

A recent visit to Jalianwala Bagh ( Amristar)

Today the Jalianwala Bagh is a park. At one corner there is an eternal flame burning. A monument has been built in the centre with a fountain..A corridor of walkaway has been built leading to a museum, and a park surrounds all these. A wall has been preserved with the bullet marks fired on that fateful day.In a corner is the well where many jumped in to save their lives, but died.It is only when you see the narrow passage – the only passage in & out of the ground-since the whole ground is surrounded by buildings ,that the whole incident leaps out to you in horror……………

It was Baisakhi day on 13^th April 1919, many had visited the Golden temple nearby, and assembled in the ground with a well, were normally people gather for a prayer meeting, or a satsang. On this day it was to protest peacefully against the Rowlatt Act.

-a new set of emergency measures for the detention and containment of 'terrorists' to meet what was termed the 'continuing threat' were planned by the British ruled Government of India. These measures were incorporated within the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act, known to Indians as the Rowlatt Act after the name of the chairman of the committee that recommended the institution of this legislation.

Then entered General Dyer through the narrow passage with 50 riflemen and two armoured cars with mounted machine guns.But fortunately the armoured cars could not enter the narrow passage. They took up position on an elevated ground ,blocking off the passage and started firing at the people .The General , even for a moment did not take into account that the crowd was unarmed and was not threatening in any way except for raising slogans.

He gave orders to fire at will, at the unarmed men women and children, assembled there. Many of them ran towards the well and jumped into it to save their lives….but obviously coudn't as it became too crowded…about 120 people died in the well……and over 1000 people were killed that day including children.

Dyer later said he would have used his machine guns if he could have got them into the enclosure, but these were mounted on armoured cars. He said he did not stop firing when the crowd began to disperse because he thought it was his duty to keep firing until the crowd dispersed, and that a little firing would do no good.

In the museum , there is description by a woman , who had gone in search of her husband after hearing about the commotion: she says ………. It was already dusk…..the whole ground littered with bodies There was a pall of death in the air . Dogs were all over the place the wounded were lying unattended, the wailing of the family members who managed to reach the place , on finding their loved ones dead,rent the air.

Much later on 13 March 1940 General Dyer was killed in London as he came out of a meeting by one Uddam Singh , who was present at Jalianwala Bagh as a teenager.He was later sentenced to death by a British Court.

These people had paid the price for our freedom………………