Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar City, Dated 13th April 1919, Just minutes before the sunset.
On that day, 15,000 to
25,000 people gathered in Jallianwala Bagh. Suddenly people heard a strange
sound.
An airplane flew from a
low altitude on the garden. He had a flag on one arm. These people had never
seen an airplane before.
Some saw him and thought
it good to leave. Suddenly, people heard heavy boots from behind and in seconds
50 soldiers appeared through the narrow passage of Jallianwala Bagh, which
began to spread on both sides in high places, making a 'formation of two'.
A section of the crowd
shouted: 'Come on, come on'. And they got up to leave. Then there was a voice'
Sit down, sit down and the bullet won't hurt you. '
Unwarned firing
At the same time
Brigadier-Reginald Dyer screamed: 'Gorkhaz Wright, 59 left. '
Of the 25 Gorkha and 25
Baloch soldiers half took the position by sitting and half standing. Dyer
ordered without delay: 'Fire'.
The soldiers hit and
started firing without notice and people started falling from bullets all
around.
The soldiers sitting on
their knees were selectively targeting. No shot of them was being lost. Dyer
then ordered that they reload their guns and fire towards where there is
overcrowding.
People began to run
around in fear. But they could not find a way out.
Everyone was on the
narrow street path and tried to get out. They were targeted by dyer's soldiers.
Bodies began to fall. The boats got backed up.
Many tried to run over
the wall but were shot by soldiers. Some veterans in the crowd screamed and
asked people to lie down. But these people were not spared by the Gorkha who
had already laid down and took the position.
Sergeant Anderson, who was
standing right next to General Dyer, later told the Hunter Committee: 'When the
shooting started, at first it seemed like the whole crowd of Puri piled up on
the ground. '
'Then we saw some people
trying to climb high walls. After a while, I looked at Captain Bergs' face. I
felt like they felt a lot of pain. '
Briggs had tried to stop
Dyer
Notij Sarana, who was
India's ambassador to the United States, has done a lot of research on
Jallianwala Bagh and has also written several books on the history of Punjab.
Nautej Sarana explains:
'There is a mention that one of Dyer's fellow Bergs grabbed by the elbow and
shook his shirt as if saying enough was enough. '
'But Dyer ignored them.
There was also an English SP Rehel. He testified before the Hunter Committee
that dust and blood were the only blood because of people running in the air.
'Someone was shot in the
eye, someone's stomach was out. We couldn't see the massacre and come out of
the garden. '
Rachel's niece then
wrote a diary in which she wrote, 'After this incident, he lost his first
personality and started drinking a lot of alcohol. '
The shots continued for
ten minutes in a row. Dyer's soldiers fired 1,650 rounds.
Peepal trees and
markings on walls
Kapil Dev Malve, an
author of the book 'Open Rebalen in Punjab' on Jallianwala Bagh, writes in one
place: 'Madan Mohu, the 13-year-old son of a local doctor, used to go to
Jallianwala Bagh on a day of playing with his friends. The bullet fired at him
that day hit the target and his skull was blown off. '
'While shouting, dozens
of people took cover behind the corner of a large peepal tree. Dyer ordered his
troops to target the peepal tree. '
'There were a lot of
people trying to blow high walls on the garden banks. Dyer turned his soldiers'
guns towards them. '
The child threw across the wall.
The rich Singh was only
four years old on April 13, 1919. But he remembered the events of the day and
the age.
Once he Speaks with British Broadcasting Corporation: 'I went to Jallianwala Bagh with my grandfather that day. As the shots started to shoot, my grandfather picked me up and ran towards the wall. When they thought there was no way out, they threw me across a seven-foot-high wall. '
'Due to Falling it broke
my arm but I lived to tell that story. We did not go to the hospital for days
even in this pain, because we were afraid that we would not be wronged anymore.
'
No medical help
As soon as the firing
was ordered to stop, the soldiers went out as fast as they came in.
Dyer jumped up and sat
in his car and walked towards Rambagh. Their soldiers followed them on foot.
Those who were shot at
Jallianwala Bagh that night received no medical attention. Nor were people
allowed to take their dead and injured off the field.
The Painful Story of
Ratan Devi
Kishor Desai, the author
of the famous book 'Jallianwala Bagh - A Straw Story', explains: 'Ratan Devi's
house was so close to Jallianwala Bagh that she heard gunshots from her
bedroom. ‘
'They rushed to the
garden in a state of insoles. There was a pile of bodies in front of them. She
began to look for her husband. Removing the bodies, she suddenly noticed her
husband's dead body. '
'After a while, he saw
two sons of Lala Sundar coming. They asked them to somehow bring a cot so that
their bodies could be taken home. They promised help but they did not return. '
Shortage of water
Kishor Desai added:
'Ratan Devi requested a Sikh man to help her take her husband's body to a dry
place, as there was blood all around where his body was. '
'They grabbed his body
by the head and Ratan Devi hung them from the foot and with wooden support.
They waited until 10 p.m. But no one came. '
'She spent the whole
night with her dead husband's head in her arms. They had a rod in their hand to
smell blood and soak the incoming dogs.
'They saw a 12-year-old
boy lying next to them, who was seriously injured. They asked him if they
should fly him any cloth. The boy said no, but don't leave me. Where will I
leave my husband?' she said.
'After a while, the boy
said I wanted water. But there was not a single drop of water. After a while,
Ratan Devi stopped hearing her actions. '
Shaved disciples on
bodies
By morning, the
disciples started flying over the garden to get food. The bodies started
rotting quickly due to the heat.
Contractor Lala Nathu
Ram, 35, told the Congress inquiry committee: 'I went out to find my son and
brother. I had to work very hard to put my turban on my head because the nails
were attacking the head with their beaks in an attempt to get meat. '
Three months after the incident, when the Congress delegation arrived for testing, there was still the smell of bodies in the air.
Power water shut down
across the city
Meanwhile, general Dyer
reached his camp around 6.30 pm after the massacre at Jallianwala Bagh. They
cut off the electricity and water of the entire city.
At 10 p.m., he visited
the city again to see if his order not to leave the house was being obeyed.
What could have been
crueler was that the children, relatives, and elders of the people were in the
jallianwala garden, injured or died, and people were not even allowed to come
out to help them.
Dyer could not see a
single man on the street that night, but the whole city was awake and there was
a terrible silence.
Dyer given clean chit by
the House of Lords
Initially, the British Government did not take any notice of the massacre, but when the news started
spreading, they formed a Hunter Committee to investigate it.
Notij Sarana explains:
'The Hunter Committee report had a unanimous report and the other was a
minority report. Both sides called Dyer wrong but to what extent, there were
differences between the two. But he did not say anything to The Lieutenant
Governor of Punjab, Michael O'Dyer. '
'The British government
asked Dyer to resign. The issue was heavily debated in the House of Commons
there and it was also decided that what Dyer did was completely wrong. But the
House of Lords reversed it. And told the British government that he had done injustice
to Dyer. '
Controversial number of
deaths
The Hunter Committee admitted that 379 people, including 337 men and 41 children, were killed in the shooting.
That night, when Dyer
sent his report to The Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, O'Dyer, he said that
about 200 people had died.
But Kishor Desai
explains: 'Many eyewitnesses say at least a thousand people died and nearly
45,000 were injured. Some died not in the garden but went to their homes. '
'People didn't know how
many people died, because there was an atmosphere of fear. It was being said by
the British that if you were present in Jallianwala Bagh, you betrayed the
government. So people were not telling whether any of our relatives died or
were injured. '
'Our 'Art and Cultural
Heritage Trust and Partition Museum have examined all the files of the
deceased in depth. We have brought out the full name 'Confirmed' of 502 dead. '
'There were also 45
bodies lying in the garden and could not be identified. We can say with
confidence that at least 547 people were killed in this 'tragedy'. '
Mahatma Gandhi and
Rabindranath Tagore protest
Protesting against the
incident, Mahatma Gandhi returned all his medals. Rabindranath Tagore wrote to
Viceroy Chamsford and returned the knighthood award.
The gap between Indians and Britain that followed could never be removed and 28 years after this incident, the British had to leave India.
