Monday, May 20, 2013

Jallianwala Bagh - Amritsar Punjab

Jallianwala Bagh massacre, involving the killing of over 300 Indian civilians by a senior British military officer, Reginald Edward Harry Dyer which took place on 13 April 1919 in the heart of Amritsar, the holiest city of the Sikhs, took place on a day sacred to them as the birth anniversary of the Khalsa (Vaisakhi day).

Jallianwala Bagh, a garden belonging to the Jalla, derives its name from that of the owners of this piece of land in Sikh times. It was then the property the family of Sardar Himmat Singh Jallevalia (d. 1829), a noble in the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780–1839), who originally came from the village of Jalla, now in Fatehgarh Sahib district of the Punjab. The family were collectively known as Jallhevale or simply Jallhe or Jalle, although their principal seat later became Alavarpur in Jallandhar district. The site, once a garden or garden house, was in 1919 an uneven and unoccupied space, an irregular quadrangle, indifferently walled, approximately 225 x 180 metres which was used more as a dumping ground.

In the Punjab, during World War I (1914–18), there was considerable unrest particularly among the Sikhs, first on account of the demolition of a boundary wall of Gurdwara Rakab Ganj at New Delhi and later because of the activities and trials of the Ghadrites almost all of whom were Sikhs.

In India as a whole, too, there had been a spurt in political activity mainly owing to the emergence of two leaders Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) Gandhi (1869–1948) who after a period of struggle against the British in South Africa, had returned to India in January 1915 and Mrs Annie Besant (1847–1933), head of the Theosophical Society of India, who established, on 11 April 1916, Home Rule League with autonomy for India as its goal.

In December 1916, the Indian National Congress, at its annual session held at Lucknow, passed a resolution asking the British government to issue a proclamation announcing that it is the aim and intention of British policy to confer self-government on India at an early date."

On 10 April, Satyapal and Kitchlew were called to the deputy commissioner's residence, arrested and sent off by car to Dharamsetla, a hill town, now in Himachal Pradesh. This led to a general strike in Amritsar. Excited groups of citizens soon merged into a crowd of about 50,000 marching on to protest to the deputy commissioner against the deportation of the two leaders.

The crowd, however, was stopped and fired upon near the railway foot-bridge. According to the official version, the number of those killed was 12 and of those wounded between 20 and 30. But evidence before the Congress Enquiry Committee put the number of the dead between 20 and 30.

Here are Some photos :






Jallianwala Bagh memorial
Jallianwala Bagh memorial

Martyrs Well
Bullet marks, visible on a preserved wall, at present-day Jallianwala Bagh.
Very old Tree inside the Jallianwala Bagh.


Sunset View inside Jallianwala Bagh.
 
Transport:

By Air:

Amritsar's international airport, Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport, has more than 160 domestic and international flights during the week with daily connections to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Srinagar, and Jammu etc..

By Rail:

Amritsar is well connected by rail to almost all major cities in India. Amritsar Railway Station is the main terminal station. from Delhi Shatabadi Express Train is the best option in terms of Duration, Luxury and Fares.

By Road:
Amritsar is located on the historic Grand Trunk Road (G.T Road), also known as National Highway 1, and therefore very well connected to the road network. Daily bus services run to and from Delhi.

For transportation within Amritsar city, rickshaws, autorickshaws, taxis and buses are easily available.



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