INL May 1 2019 Digital Edition

04
MAY 1, 2019
Homelink
Jallianwala Bagh massacre centenary marked in Wellington
Venkat Raman
Across-section of the
Wellington community
gathered at St Peter’s
Church on Willis Street on
Friday, April 12, 2019 to pay homage
to the victims and their families
of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre
that was executed in Amritsar City
Punjab on April 13, 1919.
The Centenary was observed
all over the world to remember
those killed at Jallianwala Bagh,
named after the Park where it
occurred and to ensure that those
who died did not die in vain. The
Remembrance was intended to
serve as a reminder of the moral
responsibility that everyone has in
keeping the world safe from such
atrocities occurring again and to
acknowledge that whilst we forgive,
we will not forget.
The massacre of March 15,
2019 in Christchurch in which 50
Muslims were killed serves as a
timely reminder of human capacity
to destroy as well as the capacity
of human race to forgive ‘those
trespass against us.’
Grant Robertson
Finance Minister Grant Robertson,
who spoke at the Wellington
gathering, said that remembering
the people who were shot dead
in Jallianwala Bagh is especially
important for us in New Zealand.
Sanjiv Kohli
India’s High Commissioner to
New Zealand Sanjiv Kohli said,
Former Governor General Sir Anand Satyanand
“Many people have died. The best
lesson that we can derive from the
massacre is that we stand united
against the forces that attempt to
divide us, forces of terror, forces of
extremism and racism. That is the
best tribute to we can pay to those
who laid down their lives.”
Sir Anand Satyanand
Former Governor General Air
Anand Satyanand spoke of three
markers that place the commemoration
in context.
The following is an extract from
his Speech.
The first was the end of World
War I in 1918 when soldiers and
other servicemen and women
returned to their countries to take
up civilian lives. This happened
in New Zealand and Australia, UK
and notably in India. And because
many people of Sikh background
had been soldiers, there were many
returned soldiers who had returned
to take up their lives in Amritsar at
the end of World War I hostilities.
India’s High Commissioner Sanjiv Kohli
Beginning of Nationalism
India at the time was a British
Colony and a mixture, at that time,
of states, princely kingdoms and
people of various backgrounds
and languages, all functioning as a
Colony.
The beginnings of nationalism
had been stirring and the colonial
powers had seen fit to pass astatute
called the Anarchical and Revolutionary
Crimes Act 1919 which went
through the Legislative Council in
Delhi on 10 March. This piece of
legislation, popularly known as the
‘Rowlatt Act’ or ‘Black Act,’ extended
emergency measures of arrests
without warrant incarceration
without trial, trials without juries
and preventive detention.
The next piece of the mosaic
is Baisakhi, traditionally been
observed on March 12 and so, in
Amritsar at the Jallianwala Bagh,
there gathered many hundreds
of people in order to celebrate
Baisakhi.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson
Pictures from Oceanic TV (Chinese)
The Massacre
The rest is, as they say, history
when troops under the command
and control of General Reginald
Dyer, an Indian born but British
officer of the Indian Army who
fired rifle shots on the unarmed
citizens. This has gone down in
Indian history as the Jallianwala
Bagh massacre. Hundreds of people
lost their lives and a number of
reactions were forthcoming with
Dyer being removed from duty
and being criticised for his actions.
Many people say that the episode
was a decisive step toward the end
of British rule in India. Certainly, in
the fullness of time, the country of
so many different kinds of governance
would become united as one
country with one constitution and
independence, notwithstanding
having a population with as many
as 16 languages and encompassing
two time zones.
The Christchurch shootings
There is, may I suggest, then
Memorial at Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar
a thread that reaches out over a
hundred years, and extends to
Christchurch in our own country,
where four weeks ago, on Friday,
March 15, 2019, by reason of the
actions of one person, 50 Muslim
worshippers at Mosques, in two
Christchurch locations lost their
lives under gunfire and almost as
many have suffered wounds and
injuries requiring attention.
Among those present at the event
were Wellington Mayor Justine
Lester, Mr Kohli, Pakistani and
Bangladeshi diplomats, Members
of Parliament, Kanwaljit Singh
Bakshi, Greg O’Connor, Priyanca
Radhakrishnan, and members of
the Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Muslim,
Jewish and other faith.
The above is a highly edited
version. For full text, please visit
www.indiannewslink.co.nz
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