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“If you’re interested in something, you will do what is convenient. If you’re committed to something, you will do whatever it takes.”

— Murray Smith

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BAISAKHI: DAY OF MOURNING AND PROSPERITY

Baisakhi is Punjab's one of the largest religious festival and is also known as Vaisakhi.It is usually celebrated on April 13 or 14 of every year. It is a Sikh festival commemorating the day Guru Gobind Singh founded the Khalsa Panth in 1699 which is also known as the Birth of Khalsa. It also marks the Sikh New Year. It is additionally Spring harvest festival for Sikhs. For Hindus, it marks the Solar New Year and also celebrating the Spring harvest. On Vaisakhi, Gurdwaras are decorated and hold kirtans, Sikhs visit and bathe in lakes or rivers before visiting local Gurudwaras. Community fairs and Nagar Kirtan are also held. People gather to socialize and share festival foods. Hindus on this occasion bath in sacred rivers such as Ganges, Jhelum, and Kaveri, visit temples, meet friends and party over festive foods.

But 13th April is also the day of Jallianwalan Bagh Massacre which is also known as Amritsar Massacre. It took place on 13th April 1919 and is still one of the saddest events in the history of mankind. On this day Colonel Reginald Dyer commanded his fifty Gurkha troops to shoot the crowd. They kept firing for ten minutes till their ammunition was almost exhausted. It is stated that roughly 1650 rounds were fired that day. Official British Indian sources gave a figure of 379 dead, 1100 wounded but according to Indian National Congress, the casualties were more than 1500 with 1000 killed. The Jallianwallan Bagh was bounded on all sides by houses and buildings and has a few narrow entrances, out of which mostly were permanently kept closed. The main entrance was wider but that was where Colonel Dyer stood with his soldiers backed by armored vehicles and began shooting.

These cruel actions of British Raj are based on the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act 1919, popularly known as Rowlatt Act. It was passed by Rowlatt Committee headed by British Judge Sir Sidney Rowlatt. This act gave power to the government to imprison any person suspected of terrorism in the Raj for up to two years without a trial and gave imperial authorities power to deal with all revolutionary activities by any means necessary. It is an extension of Defense Of India Act 1915 during the First World War. The site, Jallianwala Bagh became a National place of Pilgrimage. Soon after the tragic happenings of the Baisakhi day, 1919, a committee was formed with Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya as president to raise a befitting memorial to perpetuate the memory of the martyrs. The Bagh was acquired by the nation on 1 August 1920 at a cost of 5,60,472 rupees but the actual construction of the memorial had to wait until after Independence. The monument befittingly named the Flame of Liberty, build at a cost of 9, 25,000 rupees, was inaugurated by Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first President of the Republic of India, on 13 April 1961. The central 30-ft high pylon, a four-sided tapering stature of red stone standing in the midst of a shallow tank, is built with 300 slabs with Ashoka Chakra, the national emblem, cursed on them. A stone lantern stands at each corner of the tank. On all four sides of the pylon the words, "In memory of martyrs, 13 April 1919", has been inscribed in Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu and English.

This day is full of happiness and sorrows. We should never forget our past but always cherish what we have in present. India's freedom was not bought by schemes but by the lives of our martyrs. So, let us not waste our freedom and make each moment count.

Happy Baisakhi to all of you…