Jallianwala Bagh massacre: The darkest episode of colonial rule
The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) and The Arts and Cultural Heritage Trust (TAACHT) inaugurated the Jallianwala Bagh Centenary Commemoration Exhibition (1919–2019) in New Delhi to an overwhelming response. The exhibition is on till April 28, 2019 from 10 am to 6.30 pm except on Mondays.
The exhibition was inaugurated by Ram Bahadur Rai, President of IGNCA, P V Ramesh, Director General, National Archives of India, and Colonel Bogra, grandson of Lala Duni Chand who was a part of the Municipal Corporation of Lahore in 1919. Dr Sachchdinand Joshi, Member Secretary, IGNCA and Kishwar Desai chairperson of The Arts And Cultural Heritage Trust (TAACHT) joined them in lighting the lamp.
The exhibition focuses on the history of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, in the form of newspapers, reports and photographs from that time. All of these are put into a historical context: of the events leading up to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, and the horrific aftermath.
This exhibition also tells the story of Punjab in 1919 in a new way— through its impact on people’s lives. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre was one part of a much larger system of colonial oppression in Punjab that lasted for months, even years.
It also crucially examines whether it was a conspiracy to trap people inside Jallianwala Bagh with no escape routes.
The exhibition uses various installations and mediums to explore
the tragedy that befell Amritsar on April 13, 1919 and the martial law that followed. There is also a significant art installation comprising the sort of everyday objects and clothes that may have been strewn in the Bagh after the massacre. This is based on eyewitness accounts.
In his welcome address, Dr Joshi while paying his respects to the martyrs stressed on how “Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims lost their lives together in Amritsar, and that is why Jallianwala Bagh is a reminder of India’s collective tragedy but also its unity and strength in times of crisis.”
Kishwar Desai delivered the curator’s note and thanked the young TAACHT team that has worked tire
lessly for over two years to put up this exhibition.
She also said that the exhibition is a “shradhanjali” to the martyrs. Some of the material at the exhibition comes from the National Archives of India and P V Ramesh noted that, “that this exhibition
looks at the darkest moment of colonial rule for not just our country but an entire civilisation and the spirit of the martyrs must inspire not just us but the future generations for another hundred years.”
In his presidential address, Ram Bahadur Rai stressed on how Brigadier General Dyer “deliberately killed innocent people and made sure that they could not escape.” He mentioned the infamous well that was “filled with corpses.”