Jallianwala Bagh massacre: PM Modi pays tributes to victims, praises their `unparalleled` courage, sacrifice

The Prime Minister also shared his speech at the inauguration of the renovated complex of Jallianwala Bagh Smarak last year.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (April 13, 2022) paid tributes to people killed in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919 and said that their "unparalleled" courage and sacrifice will keep motivating the coming generations.

Taking to his official Twitter account, the prime minister said, "Tributes to those martyred in Jallianwala Bagh on this day in 1919. Their unparalleled courage and sacrifice will keep motivating the coming generations."

He also shared his speech at the inauguration of the renovated complex of Jallianwala Bagh Smarak last year.

Hundreds of people protesting peacefully against the Rowlatt Acts, which granted the colonial administration repressive powers, were gunned down by British forces without any provocation in what became one of the most brutal turns in their occupation of India.

Amit Shah was also among the union ministers who paid tributes to the victims of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. 

"I bow to the courage and valour of the immortal martyrs of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, which a symbol of the ruthlessness and brutal atrocities of foreign rule," Shah tweeted.

"Your sacrifice, dedication, and sacrifice for the freedom of Mother India will continue to inspire the coming generations to sacrifice for the unity and integrity of the country," he added.

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place on April 13, 1919, when troops of the British Indian Army, under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer, fired machine guns into a crowd of unarmed protesters and pilgrims who had gathered in Jallianwala Bagh in Punjab`s Amritsar on the occasion of Baisakhi.

The crowd had assembled peacefully at the venue to condemn the arrest of two national leaders -- Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew -- when they were fired at indiscriminately by General Dyer and his men.

According to British government records, 379 people including men, women, and children were killed while 1,200 were wounded in the firing. Other sources place the total number of deaths at well over 1,000.

(With agency inputs)