Gateway Chronicle 2021

Hidden Voices
The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
In July 2016, my uncle was getting married in India
and my family was invited to attend. We took an
international flight to Delhi and then flew on a domestic
flight to Amritsar, Punjab. The next day, we
went to visit the holy temple of Sikhs: The Golden
Temple. Devotees from different corners of the
globe seek blessings and spiritual solace here. After
taking our blessings we walked to the famous local
park, Jallianwala Bagh.
My mum explained to me the history of the park.
India was once under British rule, and in early April
1919 there was rioting in Punjab. British and Indian
troops under the command of Brigadier-General
Reginald Dyer were sent to restore order and Dyer
banned all public meetings which, he announced,
would be dispersed by force if necessary. On April
13 th , 1919, the Sikh new year (Baisakhi) was being
celebrated. That day, there were over 5000 people
gathered in the park with their friends and family to
celebrate.
The Punjab lieutenant governor called Michael
O’Dwyer is said to have believed that this was part
of a conspiracy to rebel against the British. Troops
under the command of Brigadier-General Reginald
Dyer marched into the walled enclosure of
the park, locked the gates and without any warning
opened fire on the panicked crowd in the park for
about 15 minutes. According to official figures, 379
were killed and 1200 were wounded, although other
estimates suggest higher casualties. Many people
didn’t want to be killed by the gunfire of the British
army so instead they killed themselves by jumping
into a deep well called the “Martyrs’ Well.” Dyer
told his men to cease fire and then left the dead and
the wounded where they lay.
for more about this tragedy.
The news of the massacre spread like wildfire and
provoked strong disapproval. In the House of Commons,
Winston Churchill condemned ‘An extraordinary
event, a monstrous event, an event which
stands in sinister and singular isolation’. Dyer tried
to defend himself but the conclusion of the investigation
was damning; he was severely castigated
and forced to retire from the Indian army. Michael
O’Dwyer was assassinated in London by a Sikh Revolutionary
Udham Singh, who had been wounded
at Jallianwala Bagh. The last known survivor of the
massacre was Shingara Singh – he died in Amritsar
on June 29th, 2009, at the age of 113.
Today, Jallianwala Bagh is a remembrance park for
tourists and locals to pay their respects to the dead.
It is also a quiet garden in the middle of a noisy and
chaotic city, for the locals to have some peace and
solitude. I will never forget this extraordinary place
and cruel piece of history for the rest of my life.
As I write this, Britain has just observed Remembrance
Day on 11th November, commemorating the
loss of lives during the World Wars. It is important
to know that aside from being a colony of the British
Empire, over one million Indian troops served
overseas, of whom 62,000 died and another 67,000
were wounded during World War One. India has
played an important part in shaping the Britain we
know and the freedoms that we enjoy today. This
makes the loss of life at Jallianwala Bagh even more
senseless and saddening.
Arjun Das 1.1
I felt furious and also shocked to hear of
such an event. I couldn’t believe that
so many people had been trapped in a
park and killed mercilessly. Everywhere
I looked there were hundreds of bullet
marks on the walls. We walked over
to the Martyrs’ Well, which had been
boarded up for safety. I imagined women
carrying children and running into the
well to save themselves from the bullets.
The bodies would have piled up on top of
each other, limbs upon limbs. On my return
to the hotel I searched the internet
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Outside the memorial park in the present day