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 13th 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………………
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