April 13, 2018 marks the 99th anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre which is also known as the Amritsar massacre. The Jallianwala Bagh is situated in Amritsar, Punjab. On the occassion of Baisakhi on April 13, 1919 General Renigarld Dyer ordered his troops to open fire on peaceful protesters, who were protesting against the arrest of two leaders of the freedom movement named Satya Pal and Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew. General Dyer blocked the only exit of the park and unleashed the reign of terror on the Indians inside the park. As per official figures 379 people were killed in the firing but historians believed that over a 1,000 people died in the horrific incident and many others were injured.

People even jumped into the well which was inside the park to save their lives but in vain. More than 100 bodies were recovered from the well. The well is the proof of the brutality of the British Empire. The bullets marks on the wall of The Jallianwala Bagh have been preserved and a memorial has been built inside the bagh to commemorate the killing of innocent people by General Dyer. A garden has an Eternal flame called Flame of liberty as a remembrance to all those who lost their lives in the freedom struggle. Shaheed Udam Singh killed General Dyer in London on March 13, 1940 and took a revenge for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

On 99th Anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre Twitter is flooded with the messages of famous personalities respecting all those who lost their lives.

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi remembers the martyrs of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. He tweeted:

 

  • Finance Minister Arun Jaitley pays tribute to all those you lost their lives in the massacre.

  • Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Former Army General VK Singh pays tribute to the martyrs.

  • Cricketer Virender Sehwag salutes the martyrs of the Jallaianwala Bagh massacre who stood showed resilience against the British empire.

  • In a very motivational tweet, ace boxer Vijender Singh remembers the martyrs of the massacre.

Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel laureate for literature, returned his Nobel Prize in protest. This incident provided a spark to the freedom struggle movement and gave birth to revolutionaries like the voice against British Empire started to gain Momentum. This incident gave birth to the revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukdev.  Irrespective of religion and caste, all the sections of the society came together which gave direction to the freedom struggle.

 

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 13, 2018 01:27 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).