A NEW book by a Rugby author commemorates the centenary of the brutal massacre in India which eventually brought about the end of the British empire.
Saurav Dutt has written historical novel Garden of Bullets: Massacre at Jallianwala Bagh to re-examine the brutal Amritsar massacre of April 13 1919, when troops of the British Indian Army fired rifles into a crowd of Indians who had gathered to challenge British rule.
A defining moment in the fight for Indian independence, historians consider the massacre a decisive step towards the end of British rule in India.
Revisiting the event, its causes and aftermath, the book raises awareness of peaceful protest and direct action, martial law, the divergent British and Indian inquiry findings, and the ongoing social, political, and cultural response.
Author Saurav, who has publicly campaigned for a formal apology from the British government for the atrocity, said: “This dark era marked the turning point of British imperialism in the Indian subcontinent.
“It was the defining moment when the Indian populace and the world realised that this colonial project was not benign, not a force for good nor one that believed in justice and fair play; instead it revealed their rapacious, racist and ruthless spirit in its unholy glory.
“It was an event of ghastly barbarity and bloodletting, punctuated by the unethical and unjust response that followed in its wake.
“Never again would India take the British empire at its word and instead the massacre gave its revolutionary movements and fight for self-determination a momentum and direction that it had been hitherto lacking; it took the blood of hundreds of innocent men, women and children to make that happen.”
Garden of Bullets: Massacre at Jallianwala Bagh is available in paperback and Ebook formats from major book retailers.
