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Story Of The Night Of The Dead
Intervening night between 13 & 14 April, 1919
Exactly
years ago in Amritsar, Punjab
I will share just one eyewitness account & not any statistics to give a glimpse of the horror that Jallianwala massacre was.
1/9 https://twitter.com/jeenasingh5/status/1117040541190037504
Intervening night between 13 & 14 April, 1919
Exactly
years ago in Amritsar, PunjabI will share just one eyewitness account & not any statistics to give a glimpse of the horror that Jallianwala massacre was.
1/9 https://twitter.com/jeenasingh5/status/1117040541190037504
Chajju Bhagat had gone to the Bagh in the afternoon. His wife Ratan Devi was at home resting after day’s chores when she heard shots being fired.
Getting anxious as if she had a premonition, she called two women to accompany her to the Bagh to see what had happened.
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Getting anxious as if she had a premonition, she called two women to accompany her to the Bagh to see what had happened.
2/9
Upon reaching Jallianwala Bagh, the scene that unfolded before her eyes was shocking to say the least. There were heaps of wounded & dead bodies of men, women & children rotting under the harsh April sun.
She had to ‘sift through’ those bodies & blood to find her husband.
3/9
She had to ‘sift through’ those bodies & blood to find her husband.
3/9
Find she did. But alas! Not alive. Wailing, she asked two young men who had also come to look for their relatives to bring a cot so that she could carry her husband’s body home & sent other two women who had come with her back.
4/9
4/9
But before cot could be brought, it was already 8:00 pm. Curfew was in place. No one dared stir from their homes.
Though few did come defying curfew to offer water to the wounded & a some doctors too at the risk of being shot at sight attended to the wounded & dying.
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Though few did come defying curfew to offer water to the wounded & a some doctors too at the risk of being shot at sight attended to the wounded & dying.
5/9
Night descended & soon Bagh was deserted.
Ratan Devi could not bring herself to leave Chajju’s body behind & ended up spending that night all alone next to her dead husband.
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Ratan Devi could not bring herself to leave Chajju’s body behind & ended up spending that night all alone next to her dead husband.
6/9
Dogs & vultures had started encircling the dead & feasting upon the abundantly available flesh.
Ratan Devi found a stick to keep the dogs at bay thus guarding her dead husband from being devoured by the beasts.
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Ratan Devi found a stick to keep the dogs at bay thus guarding her dead husband from being devoured by the beasts.
7/9
Clock kept chiming ominously every hour in the dead of the night of the dead.
Some wounded asked her to change their position, some young children entreated her not to leave their side.
At long last, the dawn broke after the longest night of Ratan Devi’s life.
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Some wounded asked her to change their position, some young children entreated her not to leave their side.
At long last, the dawn broke after the longest night of Ratan Devi’s life.
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Two men came with cot & took Chajju’s body home.
In Ratan Devi’s words:I was all alone the whole night in that solitary jungle. Amidst hundreds of corpses, I passed my night, crying and watching. I cannot say more. What I experienced that night is known only to me and God.
9/9
In Ratan Devi’s words:I was all alone the whole night in that solitary jungle. Amidst hundreds of corpses, I passed my night, crying and watching. I cannot say more. What I experienced that night is known only to me and God.
9/9
