English translation of ‘Khuni Vaishakhi’ released to mark Jalianwala Bagh massacre centenary

Apr 14, 2019

New Delhi, April 14 (ANI): To commemorate the centenary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Nanak Singh’s lost manuscript, Khooni Vaisakhi, translated for the first time into English by the author’s grandson; Navdeep Suri was released in capital New Delhi on Saturday. The book, also featuring essays by Navdeep Suri, H.S. Bhatia and by Justin Rowalatt, whose great-grandfather, Sir Sydney Arthur Taylor Rowlatt, who drafted the Rowlatt Act that was being protested in Jalianwala Bagh the has been published by Harper Collins India. 22-years-old at that time, the renowned Punjabi writer Nanak Singh was present at Jallianwala Bagh on 13 April 1919 and was the first hand witness to the barbaric act by the British. After going through the traumatic experience, he proceeded to write Khooni Vaisakhi, a long poem that narrates the political events in the run up to the massacre and its immediate aftermath. The book was launched by current Union Minister of State with Independent Charge in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri, who said that the Indian populace deserved closure for the barbaric act carried out by the then British government. Navdeep Suri said that the massacre should not and cannot be forgotten. On April 13, 1919, some 50 British Indian army soldiers began shooting at unarmed civilians who were taking part in a peaceful protest against oppressive laws enforced in the Punjab region. At least 379 Sikhs were killed, according to the official record, although local residents said in the past that the toll was far higher. The massacre took place in the walled enclosure of Jallianwala Bagh, which is still pocked with bullet marks.