April 13th, 1919 is considered and remembered as one of the most depressing and brutal event in the history of Indo-Pak subcontinent when the massacre of Jallianwala Bagh (Garden) took place in a culturally rich, holy city of Amritsar, Indian Punjab. That brutal massacre involved the killing of hundreds of unarmed, defenseless Indians men, women and children by a senior British military officer, Brigadier-General Reginald E.H. Dyer.The troops commanded by him, immediately upon entering the Bagh (Garden) opened fire without the slightest warning to the crowd to disperse and concentrating especially on the areas where the crowd was thickest.
The firing started at 17:15 and lasted for about ten to fifteen minutes. The Bagh, or garden, was bounded on all sides by brick walls and buildings and had only five narrow entrances, most of which were kept permanently locked. Since there was only one exit except for the one already manned by the troops, people desperately tried to climb the walls of the park. Some also jumped into a well inside the compound to escape the bullets.
It was determined that 1,650 rounds had plowed into the crowd of about 10,000 people and later it was officially announced by British Govt. that The killing of 379 Indians including 337 men & women, 41 young boys and a six-week-old baby and wounding of 1,200 (although the actual figure was almost certainly much higher) The wounded could not be moved from where they had fallen, as a curfew had been declared. It was a Sunday, and many neighboring village peasants with others thousands of people arrived there from various corner of the country and gathered in Jallianwala Bagh (Garden) to raise voice against the injustice that was being poured on to the people of Indian Punjab by the British Government beside to celebrate the most significant cultural, sacred and secular festival of Vaisakhi.
Like many places where great injustice has taken place, Jallianwala Bagh became a place of pilgrimage, reflection, and a symbol of what the victims stood for (or against). On 13 April 1961, the 42nd anniversary of the massacre, it was inaugurated as a memorial with a 30 foot four-sided pylon called the "Flame of Liberty." Upon each face is inscribed " In memory of the martyrs, 13 April 1919" in four languages: Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi and English.
In remembrance of that great sacrifice and in memory of innocent victims, Fraser Valley Peace Council and Taraksheel society of Canada jointly arranged a candlelight Vigil in Surrey. This event was also endorsed by renowned broadcaster and columnist Gurpreet Singh and rest of the team and management of Radio India.
Shahzad Nazir Khan
Fraser Valley Peace Council.
604-613-0735
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