Amritsar: The heart-wrenching Jallianwala Bagh massacre that took place at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar during the Baisakhi festival in April 1919 completed its 100th year on Saturday.
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre is said to be one of the darkest chapters of India’s freedom struggle against the British occupation. The official death toll by the British government was put at 379. The massacre took place when the British Indian Army under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer opened fire at a crowd staging a pro-independence demonstration, leaving scores dead.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi paid floral tributes at the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial on Saturday to mark the centenary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and said that the cost of freedom must never be forgotten. Rahul, who was accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, state minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and some other Congress leaders, paid floral tributes at the memorial inside the Jallianwala Bagh in the morning.
They also observed a two-minute silence to remember those who were massacred in the tragic incident on April 13, 1919. “The cost of freedom must never ever be forgotten. We salute the people of India who gave everything they had for it,” the Congress chief wrote in the visitors’ book.
Gandhi arrived at Amritsar late on Friday night. Upon his arrival, the Congress chief, accompanied by Singh, went straight to the Golden Temple and paid obeisance at the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs.
British High Commissioner to India Dominic Asquith also visited the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial separately on Saturday.
In the visitors’ book, Asquith wrote, “The events of Jallianwala Bagh 100 years ago today reflect a shameful act in British Indian history. We deeply regret what happened and the suffering caused.” “I am pleased today that the UK and India have and remain committed to developing further a thriving 21st century partnership,” he added. In his brief interaction with reporters later, Asquith said British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday described the Jallianwala Bagh massacre as a “shameful scar” on British-Indian history. He pointed out that former British Prime Minister David Cameron, during his visit to India earlier, had expressed regret and termed the Jallianwala Bagh tragedy a “deeply shameful scar”. Asquith also added that the Queen Elizabeth II had spoken of the incident as a distressing example of Britain’s past history with India.
The British envoy said that his great-grandfather HH Asquith, who was the prime minister of Britain between 1908 and 1916, had referred to the Jallianwala Bagh tragedy as one of the worst outrages. “My own great grandfather, who was the prime minister for almost a decade, had referred to this as one of the worst outrages in our whole history,” he said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ram Nath Kovind also paid tributes to the victims of the massacre on Saturday.
“India pays tributes to all those martyred on that fateful day. Their valour and sacrifice will never be forgotten,” Modi said.
(Agencies)
