Haunting The Hardback

Released a hundred years after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, three books revisit April 13 and its horror

- Urmi Chanda-Vaz

As the month that marks the centenary of the tragic Jallianwala Bagh massacre, April 2019 should have borne an air of solemnity. But as one is now forced to pick a cricket team or political party or a mango type, loyalties do become hard to commit to. There is no us versus them anymore; just us versus us.

A hundred years ago, at least this choice was made easy for us, sinister though its way. After their collaborative effort in the First World War, Indians still felt some allegiance towards their colonial masters. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre of April 13, 1919, changed all that. On that day, General Dyer ordered the killing of innocent people in their hundreds. They had gathered at Amritsar’s Jallianwala Bagh to celebrate Baisakhi, but when Dyer pulled that trigger, Indians did pick their side.