Experts analyse Jallianwala Bagh massacre through lens of vernacular literature

Commemorating 106 years of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, the Jallianwala Bagh Chair at Guru Nanak Dev University organised a seminar to analyse the April 1919 events through the lens of vernacular literature. Scholars of Hindi, Punjabi and English languages were invited to the event.

At a session titled ‘History, Literature and Folklore, and the JB Massacre’, Prof Amandeep Bal, chairperson, while introducing the theme of the seminar said one of the scarcely covered subject about the massacre was vernacular literature and folklore.

“There was an outburst from the public during the time. Capturing the sentiments and holding the British accountable were the writers of the time. There was some iconic literature that came out in the aftermath of the massacre, whether it was in Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi or Urdu. Our aim is not merely to study the collection of prose and poetry on the massacre, but to engage in the critical analysis of the creative writing by the scholars.”

Speaking at the seminar, Prof KL Tuteja, former professor and head, Department of History, Kurukshetra University, critically analysed Mahatma Gandhi’s decision to launch Rowlatt Satyagraha, through news reports and newsletters of the time. “What Gandhi learnt from the movement was that for a movement to be successful, it has to be about all communities, people across gender and class. Learning from the agitation, Gandhi reinforced the principle of non-violence and emphasised on the Hindu-Muslim unity and decided to organise a more broad-based movement,” said Prof KL Tuteja.

Prof Sukhdev Singh Sirsa, former professor and head, Punjabi Department, Panjab University, Chandigarh, who was the valedictory speaker, said the massacre was not an incidental happening, but part of the British colonial policy. “The tragedy shattered the myth of the British benevolence and progress. It exposed their bigotry and oppression, while also exposing the officers, who abused the power of arresting anyone and detaining people without notice. In the backdrop of the nationalist movement, the common man’s dissent grew, ready for the confrontation, which eventually mobilised the freedom movement,” said Prof Sirsa.

He mentioned several writers of the time, who critiqued the British governance on their oppressive tactics. “The massacre not only impacted Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu and Bengali writers like Tagore and Manto, but even Russian poet Nikolay Tikhonov, who called out British atrocities and the shooting innocent, unarmed citizens in his poem ‘Indian Dream’ published in 1920,” Prof Sirsa said. He also highlighted the tradition of composite culture of Punjab, which he said goes back into history even before the time of Guru Nanak Dev.

In his presidential remarks, Prof Palwinder Singh, Dean Academic Affairs, resented the layman perception about the massacre. The book by the Jallianwala Bagh chair titled ‘Jallianwala Bagh Massacre and Indian National Movement’ was released on the occasion.