Jallianwala Bagh happened on this day in 1919

• The Jallianwala Bagh exposed the inhuman approach of British when the British troop cold-bloodedly opened fire to unarmed crowd without any warning by General Dyer
• A shocking act of brutality and one of the bloodiest massacres of modern history.

by Seetha Ramanthan

On this day- Sunday,13th April,1919– the most infamous incident in the history of India took place. Jallianwallah bagh is a public garden in Amritsar, Punjab. On This day being Baisakhi ( Harvest Festival) Punjabi New Year Day,many villagers had came to attend the Baisakhi fair.Some came to protest against the government's new repressive measures.

British General Dyer had sensed a major insurrection and to preempt, he banned all the public meetings. But this information was not circulated well. When he came to know that villagers and some protesters had gathered in the Bagh, he entered the bagh with 50 gurkha rifle men to a raised bank and he ordered his men to fire at the citizens. It was very difficult for the people to escape through a very narrow entrance. Stampede followed and many to save themselves from the bullet jumped into the well and lost their lives.

Several years back, I got an opportunity to visit this place and was shell shocked to see the bullet marks in the well of Jallianwala Bagh.

It is said that 1650 rounds had been fired.In this massacre 379 declared dead and approximately 11,00 wounded.

Let us remember those innocent people's sacrifice for the nation and salute those who faced the bullets!

Jalliawalan Bagh massacre led to severe protests across India. The atrocities were widely criticized. British government set up Hunter Commission to inquire the massacre. even though, General Dyer's outrageous and grave misuse of authority was condemned by the commission, he was not penalized for his actions for political reasons.

Tomorrow –14th April- 4 states will celebrate NEW YEAR. It is Bengali New Year, Malayali New Year. VISHU, Punjabi New Year.Baisakhi. Tamil New Year Pudhu varusham. while wishing the people of these states "HAPPY NEW YEAR, let us also share the grief of people of KOLLAM, KERALA Where a major fire swallowed 116 lives and left more than 350 seriously wounded.

Mrs. Seetha Ramanathan lives in Bangalore and has specially contributed this piece for NewsGram. She can be reached via trrseetha@gmail.com