We spent three days in Amritsar in Punjab last week.
The Golden Temple by night was a glorious sight. Volunteers took care of the temple and its ceremonies with much love and devotion. They made all visitors, Sikh or otherwise, feel welcome.
We visited it again the next morning. It shone in the pale winter sunlight, radiating peace and purity.
The massacre of Sikhs and Punjabis, the bravest of Indians, by the British is one of the many horrifying chapters in Indian history.
We visited the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial where the massacre took place on 13th April, 1919. On that fateful day in 1919, a group of people had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh near the Golden Temple to protest the arrest of two leaders. There were also thousands of pilgrims who were there to celebrate the Baisakhi festival.
Reginald Dyer, a British general, ordered his soldiers to fire on the crowd. The bullets were fired towards the narrow passages through which people were trying to escape. More than 1000 innocent people died, about 120 of them jumping into a well in panic. The bullet marks are still visible on the walls of surrounding buildings.
The exhibits at the Jallianwala Bagh museum and the stories they tell about what Indians were subjected to by the British makes one wonder: ‘How did it come to this?’
The British entered India as traders in the 1700s. Soon they got involved in our politics and turned our country into a colony. The rest is history.
And what have we learnt from this? Not much, going by what’s in the newspapers. Some excerpts from a recent article:
- Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s invitation to China to set up special economic zones and industrial parks in India…
- Haryana is going all out to woo Chinese companies to buy farmland…
- Chinese investors have also visited Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu looking for probable sites.
- Chinese investors are being offered land for ‘purchase’ and they will have the right to re-sell the land.
- …policy of protecting national borders certainly needs a review considering that the Chinese are being allowed to purchase land within the country. But will Beijing ever allow Indian companies to buy such huge tracts of farmland in China?
My question is: Why do we have to sell the land to the Chinese? Shouldn’t it be leased for a limited number of years, if at all?
But then, there is this too, quoting from the same article.
Indian companies were buying land in Africa, Asia and South America. Of the 848 land grab deals concluded globally since 2008, 80 involve Indian companies that have invested in 65 deals to grow food grains, sugarcane, oilseeds, tea and flowers. And as a news report computed, India has already bought land abroad nine times the size of Delhi.
How are the countries in Africa, Asia and S. America okay with this?
The US National Academy of Science calls it ‘a new form of colonialism’, while mainline economists term it as a model of economic growth.
Which one is it?
drshyamalavatsa 
Beautiful. Visiting the Golden Temple is on my short list. And the Jalianwala Bagh must have been an emotional experience. A visit there must be a requirement for all students, particularly Indian politicians, who obviously have not learned the brutal lessons of history.
Happy New Year
LikeLike
As I said, Jallianwala Bagh massacre was one of the MANY horrifying chapters in Indian history, preceded by similar atrocities heaped on Indians by Ghazni and those that followed him for the next seven-eight hundred years. This one is better documented, so we know the details. We should never take our democracy and independence for granted, and I too wish that Indian politicians would stop being so short-sighted and selfish. I wish cunning and slyness did not pass for smartness in this country…oh, I have a long wish list, never mind…
Even if school kids can’t be taken to Jallianwala Bagh on a field trip, schools could show them movies, or simply give them an assignment to watch it on youtube, right?
And yes, Jallianwala was a very emotional experience – some of us burst into tears reading about Udham Singh, Dr.Saifuddin, Dr.Satyapal and others, and what happened to Udham Singh.
LikeLike
I was born of Indian parents but am a retired Barrister living in the UK. I am presently writing a book entitled “Pro Patria” which comprises 5 stories. One of them is of Udahm Singh. I am would like to ask if I may use your photograph of the well in Jallianwalla Bagh in my book. I shall acknowledge your kind consent, of course. If a fee is required then I shall no longer want to pursue this request. Your early response will be much appreciated. With my thanks.
LikeLike
Of course you can use the photograph with acknowledgement. What’s it for, if not for sharing?
Good luck with publishing the book!
LikeLike
Wow, I had no idea that some countries are buying land in other countries. You wonder why India would sell its land to China, then buy land in another country. You’re right, what’s wrong with leasing? I have a feeling that down the road, some of these decisions will be full of regret.
LikeLike
First off, let me wish you and your little boys a very happy new year – I’ve ‘known’ you for such a long time now 🙂
I was astonished, no shocked, when I read that article. None of this makes any sense to me and I keep wondering what I am missing. Why don’t I understand the logic behind this – surely there must be a very good reason? Like you, I have a sense of foreboding, that there’s going to be a lot of regret around this.
LikeLike
Thank you and happy new year to you and your family! I am thinking these decisions are short-sighted and will have repercussions down the road. Just like when US manufacturers decide to export all jobs to China, tearing down the middle class here and hurting the economy, only to realize that it would only be a matter of time until manufacturing and labor costs in China would go up and not compete with the US much, especially with shipping and export costs. Businesses tend to make poor decisions, ask for the support of the government, and often get it.
LikeLike
Land grabs in foreign countries is on the rise..or so i have read in some articles. How emotional an experience
LikeLike