Jallianwala Bagh Ki Karahein, a collection of drama, poems, doha, thumri, lavani, kawali and ghazal, written after the incident by various writers, speaks about the administrative brutalities during and in the aftermath of the tragedy. Almost all of this collection was banned by the British. The author has traced these writings from the India Office Library in London and translated them into Hindi.
The Introduction narrates how O’Dwyer had restricted the freedom of expression under his province by not allowing the circulation of major newspapers, i.e., Congress, Vijaya, Inquilab, Independent, Swadeshi and Amrit Bazar Patrika. Rajwanti Mann writes that people in Amritsar were ready to participate in the Rowlatt Satyagraha called by Mahatma Gandhi against the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act, 1919, but they got angered when two important leaders from Punjab, Dr. Satyapal and Saifuddin Kitchlew, were arrested on 10 April 1919. Around 15 to 20 thousand people assembled at Jallianwala Bagh on the evening of 13 April 1919, the day of Baisakhi, to protest peacefully against the arrest of their leaders. Since undeclared martial law was already imposed in the city by the Deputy Commissioner, Brigadier General Reginald Dyer, he ordered his troops to surround the crowd and start firing. The people started fleeing but the gate was closed and many of them jumped into a well. As per the government report, 400 people were killed in this massacre, but in reality, the deaths were more than a thousand in number, and 3400 people got injured. O’Dwyer did not stop there; he ordered the hospital doctors not to treat the injured people who were crawling through the streets of Amritsar. After the incident, the Hunter Commission was appointed to enquire into the causes of this massacre but it did not penalize Dyer as his actions were supported by his superiors and even upheld by the Army Council. The author also highlights that English newspapers, such as The Telegraph, The Times and The Manchester Guardian, ignored this brutal killing of Indians.
‘Jakhmi Punjab’ is a chapter on a play written and directed by Lala Kishanchandra Zeba in 1922. Zeba presented the play which became very popular among the people. Chapter two, taken from Jallianwala Bagh ka Mahatmya compiled by Jaganath Prasad Gupta, probably published in 1921-22, contains 12 poems of which three were written by the famous poetess Subhadra Kumari Chauhan. In ‘Jallianwala Bagh Mein Basant’, Subhadra Kumari explains the agony of the people:
‘Punjab ka Khoon’ written by Kavi Das in 1922 expresses the pain of families whose relatives were killed in this massacre, and challenges the British saying, ‘dekhenge tere kaam, karishme apne bhi dikhla denge, tu aankh nikal dekh, ahinsha se swarajya ham pa lenge’.
The fourth chapter includes only one poem, ‘Gaurang Gunanuvad’ written by Sree Muktajeev. The poet describes the quality of the Whites in his poem of 52 lines. This poem became so sensitive that it was banned and seized in 1931, probably in the same year that it was written.
Chapters five and six contain songs written by Biharilal Agrawal and Ustad Shivshankar in 1921 and 1923 respectively. Chapter seven includes ‘Panjab ka Hatyakand yani Bekason ki Aah’ written by Lala Ratanlal Jamrurd in 1921 and published by Badri Printing Works of Bulandshahar. Jamrurd starts his doha with the causes and consequences of the World War and goes on to narrate his feelings about the aftermath of the Jallianwala massacre. ‘O’Dwyer Sahi yani Majloom-e-Panjab’ is another series of dohas and songs included in chapter eight, written by Soorajbhan Mater Rajput.
In the last chapter, ‘Shesh Vishesh’, Rajwanti Mann includes such banned and seized writings which were published in different fora: ‘Bharatiya Bala: Srimati Ratan Devi’ by Sriyut Parantp, published in 1920 in the monthly magazine Prabha edited by Ganesh Shankar Vidhyarthi; ‘Inquilab-e-Hindi’ by Pandit Harprakash Bhardhwaj in 1921; some pamphlets published in 1921 such as Bharatiyon ko Chetawani, Mujhko Roola ne Mara, and one ghazal written by an unknown author. One pamphlet is a wake-up call to Indians to stand up and fight for their rights: ‘Do something concrete now, cast aside slumber and instantly enhance your abilities…’.
The book is a product of a decade-long hard work of compilation and translation. However, the author should have included some information about all these writers—their background, affiliations, activities, associations, and their role in India’s freedom struggle. Meanings of words used locally which abound in these writings would have made the reading more enjoyable.
Jitendra Kumar is Assistant Professor (Guest), Department of History, Maitreyi College, University of Delhi, Delhi.