“Tears of Blood!”
The inauspicious 13th of 1919
Innocent civilians were randomly killed on the holy day of BAISAKHI
The annual harvest festival of faith and galore turned into a history of atrocity and mass murder.
It was a beautiful day, spring birds were getting ready to shake off the doldrums of winter,
tuk tuk the sound was insistent almost metallic
the usual romantic moments of mating and love,
nature’s transition halted under a pathetic roaring laughter of arrogance
shell shocked spring shunted the blossoming and blooming,
bleeding flowers shut their petals in shame,
setting Sun committed suicide over the golden crops,
love birds stopped singing amidst an atmosphere of grief and chaos
a rare tragic phenomena pushed the humanity to the lowest
when innocent civilians were mercilessly attacked during a happy moment.
Emptiness gripped the pages of morning news papers
high handed conduct of imperialistic power,
cold blooded killings in a vibrant garden of Amritsar,
the festival of bullets and blood,
the sacrifice of many nameless warriors of our freedom struggle,
helpless celebrants died for their occupied mother land.
The escape routes were closed, wells were filled with corpses,
a deepest scar of the colonial torture
the dignity of human rights were denied,
blatantly violated the right to life,
encircled trapped peace pilgrims,
perished in the land of five rivers.
It was also victory celebration to honour Guru Tegh Bahadur who refused to convert to
Islam under the orders of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb .
The holy day of Sikh order started after persecution and execution. Endless historic
references of religion and culture,
accumulated tears of many grieving hearts
still alive and consciously floating in the waters of Indus, Sutlej, Ravi, Chenab and Beas.
Kabi Guru returned his Knighthood in anger to the British Emperor in protest of the killings
of innocent women, children, men and elders.
Yes, I’m remembering hundred years of Jalianwala Bagh massacre paying my heartfelt
tribute to the nameless freedom fighters.
May be they’ve returned to this beautiful motherland
serving their karmic cycle of mundane art,
only to contemplate and realize that nothing has changed,
only the power structure has shaped in a new format.