To Amritsar
From Delhi itself train was 3 hours late, it didn't try to
catch up during night. Hence, we were running far behind the schedule. Cold air
creeping inside through air gaps kept me awake for almost all night.
Temperature was in single digits; in between, I woke up and rub my toes to keep
the sensations alive. Except me, all others were wearing multiple layer of
clothing to beat cold.
Finally, it was morning. I woke up from my middle berth and
moved to side-lower which was empty. Nothing much was visible outside due to
dense white fog. By then, train was running more than four hours late. I went
back to ‘Sigma Protocol’; protagonist was still on run to avenge the death of
his brother and brother’s girlfriend. After a while, I gave a break to kindle
and started looking Punjab countryside. Rays of sunlight slowly started tearing
the white cover of dense fog. Countryside looked greener. In between, there
were multiple dry container terminals and numerous warehouses.
After a while, we started crossing one of Punjab’s biggest
river - Sutlej. Sutlej is one of five rivers from which Punjab got its name.
Other rivers are - Beas, Ravi, Chenab and Jehlum. Sutlej is the longest of five
and easternmost tributary of Sindhu (Indus) river. India's third largest
reservoir - Gobind Sagar - is in this river. As per Indus Water Treaty (IWT),
waters from Sutlej along with Beas and Ravi are allocated to India (Indus,
Chenab and Jhelum are allocated to Pakistan). Hardly much water was flowing through
Sutlej at that point; there were large agricultural lands on banks (or I would
rather say in Sutlej's dry bed). After a while we reached Beas bridge; contrary
to Sutlej, water in Beas was touching both river banks.
Finally, we reached Amritsar station. Our bogie – the last
one - was off the platform. We literally had to jump to ground below.
I was not planning to book a hotel room in Amritsar.
However, being 4 hours late screwed all plans. After getting down at station I
went outside and rented a room at S.K Residency. After taking a bath and
washing some essential cloths, I set out to explore the city. My first
destination was Golden temple. Due to some reason, I chose to walk from railway
station to Golden Temple. Meanwhile, I also identified a highly popular restaurant
in Shashtri Market for lunch.
It took a while to reach Shashtri market. Some portion of market
was very crowded and other parts were practically empty. Narrow lanes passed
through market; both sides of lanes were occupied by small vendors. After
taking numerous turns, I finally reached restaurant. Regrettably, it was crowded
and waiting for lunch there was going to cost a lot of time. So, I came out and
continued towards my destination - Golden Temple.
Sri Harmandir Sahib (aka Golden Temple)
Amritsar was named after lake founded by 4th Sikh guru ‘Guru
Ram Das’ in 1574. Harmandir Sahib was designed (to build on the center of tank)
by 5th Sikh guru, ‘Guru Arjan’. He also installed 'Adi Granth' inside Harmandir
Sahib. ‘Akal Takht’ inside the complex was constructed by 6th guru, Guru
Hargobind. In early 19th century Maharaja Ranjit Singh covered upper floors of
gurudwara with 750kgs of gold.
Guru Arjan was tortured and executed by then Mughal Emperor
Jahangir for his refusal to convert to Islam. After Guru Arjan's death
Harmandir Sahib was not occupied by Sikh gurus for a long time. Later Guru
Gobind Singh and his Khalsa Sikhs captured the temple. Harmandir Sahib was
attacked multiple times in history. After each attack temple was restored by
Sikhs. During 1980s Golden temple was occupied by militant groups. In 1984 then
prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi, ordered military operation (Operation
Blue Star) for the removal of militants. This operation damaged Akal Takt,
which was later repaired by central government. In 1999 these repairs were
removed and Akal Takth was rebuilt.
After keeping shoes at stand and washing hands and legs I
entered the complex. One need to cover their heads before entering Harmandir
Sahib. Temple was indeed a beautiful sight to see. So calm and serene. There
were a lot of people, but everything was in order. I slowly walked through
paved path around the temple. In between, at two-three places I touched holy
pond and washed face, hands and legs. A long queue was formed for going inside the
temple located at the center of pond. If I reached Amritsar on time then there
would have been a lot of time to spend. Walking all the way to Golden Temple
and exploring Shastri Market also took time. In addition to that, I booked an
early evening train to Ludhiana. All this took standing in queue out of the
equation. So, I sat at one place near pond, along with lot of families and
individuals who were doing a kind of meditation. After a while, I woke up and
went to Sikh museum. Museum describes major events happened to Sikh religion,
including numerous instances of persecutions.
Jalianwala Bagh
Located near Harmandir Sahib, this structure witnessed one
of the dark chapters of British Raj in India – massacre of defenseless innocent
civilians at the hand of well-armed powerful British Army. Bagh (garden) is not
a big area; walled on all sides it may be around 6-7 acres. There were 5
entrances; but most of the entrances of kept closed. Jalianwala Bagh is very
close to Golden Temple.
During World War I, ‘Defence of India Act’ was passed by
British. Only in name it was for defence of India. This act limited civil and
political liberties. To suppress revolutionary activities (especially in Punjab
and Bengal) British came up with a sedition committee (chaired by Sidney Rowlett).
Based on recommendations of this committee, Rowlett Act was passed. This act
limited civil liberties further.
Numerous protests were organized against this act. Gandhi's
call for protest received huge response from people; streets were overflowing.
On 10th April 1919, there was a protest outside the residence of
Deputy commissioner's office for releasing Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew.
Both were part of Gandhi's Satyagraha movement. A military picket shot at crowd
which ended up killing several people which in turn set off further violent
events.
On 11 April, Miss Marcella Sherwood was attacked on streets
(pulled to ground by her hair, stripped naked, beaten, kicked) and left for
dead. Some locals rescued her and took her to Gobindgarh Fort. (After visiting
Sherwood "on 19 April, the Raj's local commander, Colonel Dyer, issued an
order requiring every Indian man using that street to crawl its length on his
hands and knees").
By 13th April British Raj placed entire Punjab under martial
law.
A meeting was organized at 4.30 PM in Jalianwala Bagh to protest
the arrests of Satyapal and Kitchlew. Annual Bishaki cattle fair was also going
on during that time. At 2 pm British closed the fare. By 4.30 PM thousands of
people were gathered at Jalianwala Bagh.
By 5.30 PM Colonel Dyer arrived at Bagh with approx. 90 army
troops. They also had armored vehicles which were not able to enter the complex
due to narrow entrances. After blocking main exits and without warning, Dyer
gave the order for shooting. What happened next was one of the worst massacres
in the history of Raj. Military kept on firing unarmed, people from all age
categories. Those people didn’t have any place to run. To escape from bullet storm
may jumped in to a well. Later bodies of approx. 120 people were removed from
this well. After 10 minutes firing stopped; in fact, they were running out of
ammunition otherwise massacre would have been continued.
An unfortunate fact is, even if order came from a British
Commander, Raj's Indian soldiers were also part of this crime against humanity.
Another irony was, Jalianwala Bagh is in Punjab Province; and it was from the
same Punjab British recruited heavily for fighting against Germans and Ottomans
in World War I.
21 years later in 1940 Udham Singh (who had witnessed and
wounded in Jalianwala Bagh massacre) shot and killed Michael O'Dwyer (he was British
LG of Punjab at the time of massacre) in London.
To add salt to the wound, Colonel Dyer was later presented
with a gift of £26,000 which came from a fund set up on his behalf by the
Morning Post. Families of people who were killed received a compensation of
£37.10. 8 years later, in 1927, Colonel Reginald Dyer died of cerebral hemorrhage
and arteriosclerosis.
I slowly entered the bagh through its only entrance - a small
lane. Hardly, three people could walk side by side. It was through this lane Raj
soldiers went inside, and shot numerous unarmed people. Numerous bullet holes
are still preserved and one can still imagine the horror by looking across the
bagh. On the left side there is a well, which was used by people to escape from
bullets. However, it proved to be disastrous, they might have escaped from
bullets but not from well. Jalianwala Bagh is a place which bring tears to the
eyes of every Indians.
Back to Railway Station
While going back I took a different route. Streets, near
Jalianwala Bagh were beautifully decorated. It looked more like any posh
happening place in western cities; after crossing that stretch it was again narrow
street lanes and dull, semi-dark stone paths. After a while its Amritsar
railway station.
Sajeev
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