People's Democracy

Jalianwala Bagh Anniversary Observed

JALIANWALA Bagh was an atrocity that shook the whole of India on April 13, 1919. Sir Rabindranath Tagore asked to be relieved of his knighthood, saying: �The time has come when badges of honour make our shame glaring in this incongruous context of humiliation, and I for my part wish to stand shorn of all special distinction by the side of those of my countrymen who for their so-called insignificance are table to suffer a degradation not fit for human beings.� He could well have been speaking for the eighty four crore Indians living on Rs 20 per person per day or for those 24 crores who live on Rs 9 per day today in the �shining India� of Manmohan Singh and his predecessor Atal Bihari Vajpayee. If general Dyer killed nearly two thousand innocents, the policies of Manmohan Singh as the Finance minister of Narasimha Rao, of Vajpayee and his Finance minister Yashwant Singh, and now, of Manmohan Singh, Chidambaram and Montek Singh Ahluwalia have brought nearly two lakh farmers and agricultural workers to commit suicide because of opening up of our markets to agricultural imports and the cut-backs on rural credit and government investment. So if a handful shine, the majority perish.

Jalianwala Bagh has many parallels in our life today. That is why its observance is significant. Imperialism then as now, needs Indian lives as common fodders for its wars to control the oil of central Asia. But at the same time it has to dispossess them and make them dependent on the crumbs from the imperialist table. It is true that we are politically independent today, but political independence to remain a stable force requires economic independence to underpin it.

M K Pandhe, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and CITU president took up the issue of how the pro-imperialist inclinations of the UPA government at the centre had driven it to attack the working class and peasantry. This theme was picked up by Dr Amandeep Kaur, Reader in History at the GNDU, Amritsar. She pointed out how a particular blend of economic distress and political betrayal had made Punjab particularly prone to an upsurge of the kind that Jalianwala Bagh unleashed. Punjab became the spark that lit a flame that had an impact from Bengal to Kerala, where Sir Sankaran Nair resigned from the viceroy�s council. The movement against the betrayal of those who gave their lives fighting imperialism became a powerful beacon to bring together all castes and communities against the British as never before.

Suneet Chopra, joint secretary of AIAWU and CPI(M) Central Committee member, highlighted the fact that imperialism had no friends but only interests. And it often extended a hand of friendship to those it wished to destroy. He cited the case of Saddam Hussein who fought a 12 year war against Iran in the US interest and had his country torn to bits by the same ally when he was no longer needed. Dr Manmohan Singh needed to learn a lesson from his fate. He warned the people of Punjab to beware of those who created the Taliban on the ground to suppress the genuine interests of the people and then came forward pretending to liberate them from it. It was a double pronged attack now, with US bombs and unmanned aircraft in the air and terror on the ground, both against the interests of the people.

Remembering his great grandfather, Rollia Ram Chopra, a former railway worker who was arrested and imprisoned by the British from April 15 to May 21, 1919, after Gujanwala revolt, he pointed out how ordinary people appeared better equipped to fight imperialism than the privileged few. The Jalianwala Bagh massacre and the massive response to it was proof of it. And indeed, it was also proof that imperialism when it was at its most savage was when it was about to lose the battle. That is why whenever the time is ripe to fight imperialism, Jalianwala Bagh would be remembered, as it was now, when imperialist forces had entered central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan and were entering into a strategic relationship with our country�s ruling class. Nothing could be more dangerous than that for the stability and security of India. He reminded the people of Punjab how Ranjit Singh had tried to do that and ended up by opening the door to the takeover of his Kingdom a few years later.

Opening the Fourteenth remembrance festival at Guru Nanak Bhawan, Vijay Mishra, president of the Amar Shahid Yadgar Committee stressed how the Jalianwala Bagh massacre reminded people that the struggle against imperialism involved a fight to the death against it; how a united struggle was essential of all the forces necessary to defeat it; how its memory kept our spirit of independence alive which was necessary to ensure the awareness required to keep our sovereignty secure to do the most for the people, their rights and livelihood.

The function was unique on account of the inspiring plays put up by the students of DAV and Khalsa schools in the city.

Among those present were BSNL Employees Union general secretary VAN Namboodiri, Davinder Josh, the son of the founder of the Naujawan Bharat Sabha and the Communist Party in Punjab Sohan Singh Josh, S C Sood, general secretary of the committee, Jaspal Singh, Avtar Singh, Manjit Singh, Krishna Dutta, Jagir Kaur, and Narinder Shanjal. Also present were Dr N S Neki, head of department of Guru Nanak Hospital, Kunwar Rajinder Singh, ex-president Amritsar Bar Association, Ramesh Yadav, the president of the Folk Lore Academy, Railway Workers� leaders Ashok Kumar and Praveen Kumar and Balbir Singh, circle secretary of BSNL.

Earlier, the leaders and activists had gone to the spot where the massacre took place, laid wreathes and observed a minute�s silence at the very time of the firing. Among those who were there at the time included R L Bhatia, governor of Bihar and as well as leaders of different political parties. It is evident that with the popular fore of the people of Amritsar behind the remembrance activities, even nearly a century after it happened , the memory of the Jalianwala Bagh massacre is still relevant and alive, bringing together the people of all castes and creeds and reminding us that imperialism cannot be trusted.