For India, April 13, 1919, is a scandalous day in the history of British imperialism. A British army officer had ordered the firing on unarmed protesters in Amritsar, Punjab. The incident killed many people which is known as the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

Historically, Amritsar is a holy city of the Sikh community. The Golden Temple of the Sikhs is located here not far from Jallianwala Bagh.

Jallianwala Bagh massacre

In 1919, the city was in the midst of a bitter dispute between Indian Independence leaders and the British rulers. Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer, a senior British army officer, was informed on April 13 that people were gathering in Jallianwala Bagh to protest. He headed there immediately with a squad of soldiers to deal with the situation. Not only that, he promptly forbade any kind of assembly in the city. However, many people were not aware of this decision and they came to Jallianwala Bagh on that day to join the protest against the deportation of two freedom fighters, Satyapal and Saifuddin Kitchlew. Several Sikh pilgrims were also present to celebrate the important Indian festival of Vaisakhi. 

Colonel Reginald Dyer besieged Jallianwala Bagh with Sikh, Rajput, Gorkha, and Baloch army troops and they blocked all the entrances. Then he ordered indiscriminate firing on the crowd that included women and children, without warning anyone and without giving them a chance to flee.

Sergeant William Anderson served under Brigadier Dyer. Later, he wrote about the incident, “When the shooting began, people started lying on the ground. By climbing high walls, some tried to flee. I was not afraid of them threatening us.”

There are numerous claims about the number of people in Jallianwala Bagh that day. Later, the British government conducted an inquiry into the killings and prepared a report that placed the death toll at 379. However, in India's investigation, the figure was around 1,000. It is worth mentioning that in protest against this massacre of innocent people, Rabindranath Tagore, the great Indian poet and philosopher, relinquished his knighthood awarded by the British government.

Even after so many years of this barbaric assassination, Britain finally came to its senses. Britain has rightly realized that killing innocent people can never be a symbol of civilization. Three days before the centenary of the massacre, then Prime Minister Theresa May said, “The tragedy of Jallianwala Bagh of 1919 is a shameful scar on British Indian history… We deeply regret what happened and the suffering caused.” 

Then Minister of State in the Foreign Office Mark Field apologized to the House of Commons, and said, “I recognise the enduring and very deep feelings and emotions this incident raises not just here in the house but continues to raise across the world…This was a tragedy and a shameful episode in British history.” He, however, said that there were some economic considerations involved in formal apologies.

Pakistan never apologized for 1971 genocide

Undoubtedly, this forgiveness will be a landmark in the evolution of human civilization. Apologizing once again proves that killing innocent and unarmed people can never be desirable in a healthy and civilized society. However, it is a matter of great disappointment that the state of Pakistan has not apologised for the more terrible and brutal massacre that took place in 1971 than the bloodshed of Jallianwala Bagh, but is still displaying more insolence and arrogance.

If we take a closer look, we will see that the genocide organized by Pakistan in 1971 was much more brutal and barbaric than the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in terms of political background and atrocities. The East Pakistan-based Awami League, headed by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won a national majority in the first democratic election since the creation of Pakistan, sweeping East Pakistan in 1970. But, the West Pakistani establishment prevented them from forming a government. After analyzing the political context, it can be seen that the vicious assault on Bangladeshis by the Pakistanis in 1971 was by no means an attack on separatist repression, but an attack on the deprivation of democracy; an effort to stifle the mandate provided by the people in 1970. The attack by the Pakistanis was, after all, an action to dig the grave of democracy.

Operation Searchlight

If we think from the point of view of atrocities, we can see that according to the 1981 UNHRC (United Nations Human Rights Commission) report, within a short period the largest number of genocides in the history of humankind have taken place in Bangladesh in 1971.On an average, 8,000 to 12,000 people were killed every day in Bangladesh, which is the highest average in the history of genocide.

However, it should be noted that the number of casualties on the first night of 'Operation Searchlight' that began on March 26, 1971, was at least 35,000, while the bloodshed in Chuknagar claimed more than 10,000 lives. West Pakistan (now Pakistan) launched a military crackdown ‘Operation Searchlight’ on East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to suppress Bengali calls for self-determination. During the nine-month-long Bangladesh War of Liberation, members of the Pakistani military and supporting Islamist militias from Jamaat-e-Islami killed people and raped women.

On March 28, 1971, the New York Times reported that the death toll on March 26 was 10,000. Also according to 1971 Sydney Morning Herald, the casualty toll from March 25 to March 29 (five days) was nearly 100,000. It indicates that the number of deaths every day was about 20,000. Even in December 1971, the spokesman of the Communist Party of Russia, 'Pravda', published the issue of three million martyrs in Bangladesh. The English version of this article mentions, 'Over 30 lakh persons were killed throughout Bangladesh by the Pakistani occupation forces during the last nine months.” January 5, 1972, the Bengali edition of the Pravda newspaper carried the headline “Occupying forces kill more than 3 million people in Bangladesh.”

Pakistan should be compelled to apologise

It is quite apparent that the genocide of 1971 is far more heinous and barbarous than the massacre of Jallianwala Bagh, regardless of the political context and the trial of the atrocities. The ‘uncultured’ state of Pakistan has not apologized yet for the 1971 genocide.  It should be compelled. Besides, the state of Pakistan, through its numerous paid agents at home and abroad, is not only lying about the genocide but also carrying out a conspiracy to obstruct the trial of their domestic counterparts.

So now the time has come to compel Pakistan to follow Britain's path. That is how the barbarism of Pakistanis should be exposed in different forums and media around the world, both at the state, private and even at the individual level.

The world needs to think that as long as Pakistan does not apologise for the genocide of 1971, it would be considered a ‘shameful’ nation in the history of human civilization. 

(The writer is a Bangladesh-based columnist and activist. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at fbzahir@gmail.com)