Patriotic Passions - Jallianwala Bagh

       Jallianwala Bagh - -what images this name invokes in us! We have all read and studied about the massacre of the innocent men, women and children who had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh to take part in the Baisakhi festivities. Having studied and having taught, having answered questions and having set questions, having seen movies on this episode of our freedom struggle and on the episodes this led to, it was with awe that I entered the gates to this hallowed ground.

       Jallianwala Bagh is just a few meters away from the Golden Temple.  After paying our respects at Harmandir Sahib, we walked the short distance to this martyrs’ memorial. This place does not look like it has changed much in the last 100 years. The approach to the garden is still through a narrow road, lined with shops on either side. The entrance is a small narrow gate in the wall. The bagh is enclosed on all four sides. The walls of buildings on three sides of the garden form parts of the compound wall. There is a high compound wall where no buildings are present. It is completely enclosed, the only point of entry and exit being the gate in the front or jumping over the high walls. Today, what was just a vacant plot of land with a few trees and plants going under the grand name of Jallianwala Bagh, has been turned into a true garden, with lush green lawns and flowering plants.

       The place of death and horror, a place where the walls once, a century ago, reverberated with sound of gun fire and  echoed with the screams of the wounded and the dying is today an oasis of peace and quiet. The trees which stood as mute witnesses to this horror continue to stand giving shade to the thousands of tourists who come to pay homage to the martyrs.

       Though the place is full of tourists, it is not noisy. The history of this ground, consecrated by the blood of hundreds weaves it spell on all. The people speak in hushed tones and there is a general air of awe and reverence. The ‘amar jyothi’, burning in memory of the people who lost their lives here, placed exactly opposite the spot from where Gen Dyer’s men opened fire, sets the tone for the mood of homage. The tree on which the men climbed to try and jump over the high wall, the well into which men, women and children jumped into, to escape the bullets, the brick wall with bullet holes in it, all bear testimony to the heartless horror that had been unleashed on a people whose only fault was that they wanted to welcome the new year with joy and gaiety.

       A walk around the bagh and through the small museum ignites in us feelings of sadness along with a strong surge of patriotism and pride.

       The Jallianwala Bagh is one of the saddest and most horrific events of our freedom struggle, one that will never fade from our national memory. The names of the thousands who died may be forgotten, but their tragedy never!

The well

Wall with bullet marks

Memorial in Jallianwala Bagh