#locomote

I dedicate this article to all those innocent people who died in this monstrous massacre……..!!

The Jallianwalla Bagh is a public garden of 6 to 7 acres (28,000 m2), walled on all sides with five entrances in Amritsar in the Punjab state of India, and houses a memorial of national importance, established in 1951 by the Government of India. This garden is a historical monument which stands for the glorious freedom struggle of India on 13 April 1919.

 So this is going to be a pretty serious article. Anyone who has studied in an Indian curriculum, or studied Indian history basically would be familiar with this episode of Indian history. To those of you who don't, I'll try to explain it briefly:

13 April 1919 , a multitude of Punjabi’s gathered at Amritsar’ Jallianwala Bagh at a part of Sikh Festival” Baisakhi,”. Around 20,000 Innocent Indians were gathered here including Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and Muslims to peacefully protest against the Rowlatt Act 1919.  Many who were present had earlier worshiped at the Golden Temple, and were passing through the Bagh on their way home. These people were unaware of the following danger, which was surrounding them from all the sides in the form of General Dyer and his Gurkha army. 

It is said that  Dyer sent an aeroplane to overfly the Bagh and estimate the size of the crowd.

Giving no warning General Dyer entered the park and ordered his 50 soldiers to fire into the gathering. Dyer continued the firing for about ten minutes. Dyer stated that 1,650 rounds had been fired. He explained later that this act "was not to disperse the meeting but to punish the Indians for disobedience."

Apart from the thousands who died of direct shooting, there were several who lost their lives in stampedes at the narrow gates and many died jumping into the solitary well inside the Bagh and were left to die in the pool of their own blood. The wounded could not be moved from where they had fallen, as a curfew was declared, and many more died during the night.

It is unimaginable what the casualties would have been had the armored vehicles armed with machine guns, brought by General Dyer, been able to get past the narrow entrances to the Bagh .

Do you know when they have stopped this firing?  When they ran out of cartridges.  This "brutality stunned the entire nation"

This incident had an international impact but the guilty General Dyer was not punished for his doings.

When I get this chance to visit this place, I wanted to share all the minuet details with you.Any one from us will go in a different zone by listen about this cruel act and seeing the painful stains and marks all over the garden. It left me in tears when I see this portrait on the wall.

 Let’s just see the main corners of Jallianwala Bagh .

A memorial, designed by American architect Benjamin Polk, was built on the site and inaugurated by President of India Rajendra Prasad on 13 April 1961, in the presence of Jawaharlal Nehru and other leaders.

Here the tourist can see walls full of the bullets marks and the and the well who drowned thousand of people who jumped there in sheer desperation, there is also a mosque within this park and a statue of Shahid Udham Singh who later killed General Dyer. 

Th Bullet marks ..

 A flame was later added to the site. You can find this continuous Indian oil flame named as “Amar Jyoti” in remembrance in the lives lost.

  The well into which many people jumped and drowned attempting to save themselves from the bullets is also a protected monument inside the park Many people died in stampedes at the narrow gates or by jumping into this solitary well on the compound to escape the shooting. After independence it was stated  that 120 bodies were removed from the well.. The wounded could not be moved from where they had fallen, as a curfew was declared, and many more died during the night.

By standing there I could feel the pain and the sorrow from that well. We cannot thank all the fighters enough for giving us this present.

      Here the tourist can visit the martyr’s gallery which displays the portraits of some freedom fighters who were victim of this monstrous incident.

   Today even mothers bring their small kids here and telling them the stories of the struggle and the patriotism.

 Jallianwala Bagh is a scrawling of an unforgettable memory of this tragedy, which evokes the patriotic spirit in every Indian; it was the worst massacre in the entire history of Indian freedom struggle.

Here I want to share few lines “ Dil se niklaegi na mar kar b ,vatan ki ulfat . Meri mitti se b khusboo-ai- vatan ayegi “

 And then is see these pillars with “Ashok Chakra”and see how this new generation paid them the respect:

  And now I want to say “The people who have really made the history are the martyrs and a generation which ignores this history has no past and no future. No wonder you will be left with moist eyes as you read the story of the incident.”

But still the lives of those people who died that day are still remembered. And they will continue to be remembered till the demise of India. These unsung lives will always remain as a harsh reminder of the sacrifices made to achieve a free nation.

It has its moments of sadness, as well as gladness. We must learn from the sadness and build on the gladness.

May their souls find peace.

We have been pretty vocal about our sandwich obsession, so it is a little upsetting that is has taken us this long to discover The Smörgåstårta. It isn't exactly cake, nor is it a sandwich, it lies somewhere in a magical fantasy food realm all of its own.