Jalianwala Bagh

Shri Nathji was present at the time of the infamous massacre at Jalianwala Bagh. He was there along with a devotee amongst the large group of people gathered at the spot, when the shooting began, under the orders of a crazed British General, Dyer. Shri Nathji narrowly escaped being hit by the bullets, and was taken away from the spot by the devotee. Indeed it was this atrocity by the British rulers that turned Shri Babaji Bhagwan against them and he found himself saying:

“Unfit! Unfit! Totally unfit! Nikal jaayo mere Hindustan se! Get out of my Hindustan!”

The presence of Shri Nathji at the scene of the massacre was like the presence of Lord Krishna at the carnage in the battlefield of Kurukshetra. It was destined that this was to happen. Shri Nathji’s presence there gave salvation to the numerous people that lost their lives.

 The Jallianwala Bagh massacre   took place in the Jallianwala Bagh public garden in the northern Indian city of Amritsar on the traditional festival of vaisakhi. The day was Sunday, 13 April 1919. The shooting that took place was ordered by Brigadier-General Reginald E.H. Dyer. Dyer was convinced of a major insurrection and thus he banned all meetings. On hearing that a meeting of 15,000 to 20,000 people including women, senior citizens and children had assembled at Jallianwala Bagh, Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer came along with a group of sixty-five Gurkha and twenty-five Baluchi soldiers into the Bagh. Fifty of them were armed with rifles. Dyer had also brought two armoured cars armed with machine guns. But the vehicles were left outside as they were unable to enter the Bagh through the narrow entrance. The Jallianwala Bagh was surrounded on all sides by houses and buildings and had few narrow entrances. Most of them were kept permanently locked. The main entrance was relatively wider, but was guarded by the troops backed by the armoured vehicles. General Dyer without warning the crowd to disperse, blocked the main exits. He explained later about this act; "was not to disperse the meeting but to punish the Indians for disobedience." Dyer ordered his troops to begin shooting towards the densest sections of the crowd (including women and children). Firing continued for approximately ten minutes. Cease-fire was ordered only when ammunition supplies were almost exhausted, after approximately 1,650 rounds were spent.

Many people died in stampedes at the narrow gates or by jumping into the solitary well on the compound to escape the shooting. A plaque in the monument at the site, set up after independence, says that 120 bodies were pulled out of the well. 

The wounded could not be moved from where they had fallen, as a curfew was declared and many more died during the night. Official Government of India sources estimated that the fatalities were 379, with 1,100 wounded. The casualty number estimated by Indian National Congress was more than 1,500, with approximately 1,000 getting killed. Dyer was removed from duty and forced to retire. He became a celebrated hero in Britain among people with connections to the British Raj. Historians considered the episode as a decisive step towards the end of British rule in India. A memorial was build in memory of the massacre after Independence. This place is adjacent to the Golden Temple and an important tourist destination for travelers to Amritsar.