Jallianwala Bagh

In April of 1919, Brigadier General R.E.H Dyer arrived in Amritsar and occupied the city under his rule as the civil administration under Miles Irving had come to a halt. Suspecting a revolt, General Dyer announced a ban on meetings and conventions by the people, but this information was not widely propagated.

On the 13th of April, 1919 a peaceful gathering of people convened in the Jallianwala Bagh to celebrate the festival of Baisakhi. Upon getting the first information about the assembly, General Dyer marched towards the Bagh with a battalion of ninety Sikh, Gurkha, Baluchi, Rajput troops from 2-9th Gurkhas, the 54th Sikhs and the 59th Sind Rifles. Dyer and the troops ascended a raised platform in the garden and announced indiscriminate and unprovoked firing on thousands of nonviolent and unarmed Indians.

Dyer continued firing until the ammunition was exhausted, killing innocent and unarmed men, women and children. Officially, the British Indian sources identified 379 people dead in the incident with 1,200 wounded. However, the number of casualties estimated by the Indian National Congress was a staggering 1,500 with 1,000 people succumbing to the bullet wounds.

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The wounds that were hurled at Jallianwala Bagh by the British find a tangible existence at two very particular structures in the garden. These two structures are solemn reminders of our freedom struggle and the sacrifices made by our predecessors to build an independent India.

The first is the wall towards the end of the park, which is still riddled with the marks of up to 36 bullets that were fired at the crowds. The second is a well, situated near the entrance of the park was where many people attending the meeting had jumped in order to dodge the bullets. After the firing had subsided, hundreds of dead bodies were retracted from the well.

Jallianwala Bagh is located in close vicinity of Golden Temple in Amritsar, at a distance of 1.3 kilometers only. You can take a short walk here from the temple itself. You can easily reach the park via auto rickshaw, taxi or bus available from all parts of the city.