Jallianwala massacre to come alive on stage soon

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 16

“A single bullet from .303 rifle that was used to shoot the innocent crowd at Jallianwala Bagh on April 13, 1919, has the force to kill and drag down two-three people along when fired from close range. So, imagine the horror happened on that fateful day, when 5,000 of these bullets were fired on children, women and people in general, all of whom had no escape,” noted playwright Jatinder Brar begins his conversation with an emotion-filled fact.

“Anyone, who reads about the incident or knows its history, will feel the pain and shear monstrosity of the act,” he says. That’s what compelled him to write a play, Saka Jallianwala Bagh that gives an account of several events that led to Jallainwala Bagh massacre.

The seven-act play starts with fictional characters set in the time period of 1915 to 1948, and explores the major happenings like WWI and implications of Indian Nationalist movement, Gadar movement, introduction of Rowlatt Act and Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

“The idea was to connect the audience with the history by taking them through all the events that were significant in shaping up the circumstances that led to the massacre. It is not only a history lesson, but a dialogue on the concept of freedom during the time of Jallianwala Bagh incident and today,” said Brar.

His team of 22 artistes is busy planning to adapt the play in one and a half hours long stage production that will use technological aspects such as old video montages of the time, light and sound design and audio verses/songs referencing to the incident. It will be staged after the general elections.

“It’s quite relevant subject for today’s youth as they need to know the concept of freedom and liberty and the differences between them. Jallianwala Bagh should not remain as a tourist spot in our memory or our future generations, it should hold a meaning, have an emotional effect on visitors as well,” he said.