I visited Amritsar and Wagah border over this weekend. Let me tell you that this was one the most memorable outings that I had recently.
We went to Jallianwala Bagh on 18th Sept 2011 morning and I was amazed to see the odd architecture of the place. I thought I could visualise how it must have been even then in 1920. That small, narrow entrance lane still remains the same opening up into a big open space now converted into a memorial and garden.
There's an Eternal Flame or 'Amar Jyoti' is lit in the memory of those who lost their lives in the massacre. The walls still maintain the bullet marks. Edifices bear the information like where the bullets were fired from, where did Brig General Dyer posted himself and his troops... The well which became the final destination to close to 120 people is now sealed with wire mesh.
The last but not the least, is a small picture gallery with the paintings of those who were related to this incident or later participated in various acts to avenge the massacre.
The most moving painting was that of widow Ratan Devi who lost her husband in Jallianwala Bagh massacre and who had to spend the entire night there with the corpse of her husband amongst other hundreds of dead bodies and blood pool! The narrative read that Ratan Devi waited for help all the night, only to carry her husband's body to a dry place (because the entire Jallianwala was covered in a pool of blood). However, a curfew was placed immediately after that, she had to stay all night in the ground, all by herself, by the side of her husband's dead body!
We can possibly never understand the pain of those people who were related to this incident, who suffered death, who suffered loss and deep sorrow. Those who tried to take the revenge, did succeed and then offered their lives for the sake of it.
Sitting here, in my confortable, warm home, I can only make a feeble effort to imagine the situation then. All I had was an unfathomable mix of feelings which later on translated only into one - sadness. I felt sad to read the count of Ratan Devi, I felt sad to see those bullet holes in the walls... I felt sad to read the entire story of Jallianwala Bagh. I felt sad to know so many innocent people lost their lives in protest of the foreign rule. What happened there was so unfortunate... I think I can never ever forget my visit to Jallianwala Bagh and especially the count of Ratan Devi... I pay my best regards to all those unknown people who became the target of those bullets and left for heavenly abode.
