AS is well known, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place in Amritsar on Baisakhi Day -- April 13, 1919. It was this tragedy which compelled the great martyr Bhagat Singh to throw a bomb in the Assembly. For this act, he and his two associates — Sukhdev and Chander Shekhar — were sent to thegallows. The sacrifice by these three martyrs accelerated the momentum of Indian freedom struggle. It also led to martyrdom of Sardar Udham Singh, who went all the way to England to kill O’Dwyer, the Governor of Punjab, at the time of the massacre.

Interestingly, the well-known Urdu short story writer, Sadat Hassan Manto, has narrated the tragic developments in an article. They took place in Amritsar on April 11, 1919, just two days before the massacre. The narration makes a sad reading, but it stirs our soul and stuns and paralyses our senses. This narration was made by an eye-witness while he was travelling in a train along with the author.

The eye-witness says, "Dear Brother! I am telling you about those days of the year 1919 when in the province of Punjab a lot of agitation was going on against the Rowlatt Act. I am talking about the city of Amritsar. Under the Defence of India Rules, Sir Michael had stopped entry of Gandhiji in Punjab. While he was coming to Punjab, he was arrested at Palwal and sent back to Bombay.

"Dear Brother! I strongly feel that if the English had not made this mistake then there would have been no black spot which stained the British rule due to the tragedy of the Jallianwala massacre. All Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs held Gandhiji in high esteem. All treated him as Mahatma. When the news of Gandhiji’s arrest reached Lahore, all government activity came to a halt. When the news reached Amritsar, in the twinkling of an eye, there was total strike in the city.

On April 9, 1919, the orders to expel Dr Satyapal and Dr Kichloo from the country were received by the Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar in the evening. However, he was not ready to implement the orders as there was no danger of any instigation. The people of Amritsar peacefully arranged protest meetings and there was no question of any violence. I am narrating this incident as an eye-witness. On April 9, 1919, a procession was taken out to celebrate Ram Navmi. But no one did anything against the government.

"But Dear Brother! This Michael was almost half mad, he never cared to listen to the Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar. He was obsessed with a fear that these Punjabis were hell-bent upon uprooting the British rule on the issue of the arrest of Mahatma Gandhi and consequently there were strikes and protest meetings. He suspected signs of a deep conspiracy. The news of arrest of Dr Kichloo and Dr Satyapal’s expulsion from the country spread like wild fire in the city. Every individual was gripped by fear. It seemed as if some very big tragedy was going to take place. But Brother! People were losing their temper. Business had come to a standstill. The city had become a cemetery. In this silence of cemetery ,there was a hidden volcano.....

"As the train was moving, the eye witness continued his narration in these words, "Amritsar was once the biggest centre of freedom movement. The residential bungalow of the Deputy Commissioner was situated in Civil Lines. All high officers, and those who favoured the British, lived in Civil Lines. Civil Lines is joined by a railway bridge with the city. When the agitated protesters reached near Hall Bazaar, it was learnt that the bridge was guarded by white soldiers who were riding on horses. The agitated protesters did not stop there and they kept on advancing peacefully.

"Dear Brother! I was also participating in this protest march. I cannot tell you as to how much the people were enraged. But all were without arm. None was holding even a small stick.

"The Protest March was started with the intention of requesting the rulers to release Dr Satyapal and Dr Kichloo without any condition. When they reached the bridge, the soldiers riding the horses started firing. There was panic all around. The white soldiers were few in number, whereas there were thousands of Indians in the Protest March.

"But Brother! Firing a bullet has always a terrifying effect on people. They became panicky. Firing by the white soldiers wounded several and several others were killed.

"On the right side there was a gutter. I was pushed by the advancing protest marchers and I fell into the gutter. When firing stopped, I got up. By the time, the protest marchers had scattered. Those who were wounded were lying on the road. The white soldiers riding on their horses were laughing."

"... I reached Hall Bazaar. I saw 30 to 40 young men throwing stones on the clock affixed on the top of Hall Gate. The glass fixed on the clock was broken and it fell down on the road. Meanwhile, one young man appealed to his other associates "Let us go and break the Queen’s statue. The other said "No let us burn the police stations". The third said, "The banks too". The fourth one stopped everyone and questioned me, "Listen to me, what we are going to gain out of all these act?. Let us go towards the bridge and kill these white soldiers."

"I recognised the fourth young man, He was Thaila Kanjar — son of a prostitute. His real name was Mohammed Tufail but he was nicknamed as Thaila Kanjar. It was so because he was son of a prostitute. He used to wander aimlessly. In childhood, he got habituated to gambling and drinking. He had two sisters -- Shamshad and Almas. Both of them were most beautiful prostitutes of their time. Shamshad possessed a melodious voice. Rich people used to come from far and wide to attend the mujras (singing and dancing sessions) of both the sisters.

"Both the sisters were very much upset by the misdeeds of their brother. It was well known that both the sisters had deprived of their brother of all his rights. However, under one pretext or the other, Thaila Kanjar used to squeeze money from his sisters. In real life, he was a man of very pleasing manners. He was fond of good food. Laughing and sharing jokes had become a part of his name. He was not like any marasi or bhand ..."

The eye-witness continued, "Thaila Kanjar was tall and had a good physique and sharp features. The young men did not listen to him. They started marching towards the Queen’s statue. He once again appealed to them by saying, ‘Brother, Don’t waste your energy in useless actions. Come with me and let us kill these white soldiers who have wounded and killed many innocent people. I swear by God if we all unite we can finish them.’

"Some young men had already gone towards the Queen’s statue. Those who remained, followed Thaila. Thaila started advancing towards the bridge and they also followed him.

"Dear Brother, I personally realised that these beloved sons of their mothers were simply going into the jaws of death. I was standing near a fountain from where I screamed, ‘Friends, don’t go. Why do you want to waste your own precious lives and that of others?’

"On hearing my voice, Thaila sarcastically laughed and said, ‘Thaila wants to prove that he is not afraid of bullets.’ Thereafter he once again addressed the young men following him and said, "If you are afraid of death, go back’. In the heat of passion, on such moments the advancing steps cannot be reversed. Particularly it is so when young men who are not afraid of death are in command.

"Thaila started marching faster and so were the other young men who followed him. There was not much distance between Hall Gate and the bridge. It was nearly 60 yards, Thaila was leading. He reached a spot where parallel grills were fixed on both sides of the bridge. At a distance of only 20 steps, there were white soldiers.

" ...When the firing opened, all the young men, of course, ran away. I saw Thaila was shouting with his back towards the bridge, saying, ‘Don’t run. Come.’ When his face was towards me another bullet struck him. He moved his hand on his back and again looked at the white soldier. This time his back was towards me and I saw that his white silken shirt was stained with red blood. Like a wounded lion, he rushed towards the bridge and caught hold of the one white soldier riding on the horse. In the meanwhile, another bullet was fired at him. In no time some strange thing happened and one soldier riding the horse was missing. The second soldier riding on the horse was frightened by the swiftness of Thaila. He at once controlled his horse and began to shower bullets at Thaila. What happened thereafter I do not know. I became unconscious and fell near the fountain.

"Dear Brother! When I regained my senses I found myself in my own house. Some people who knew me identified and brought me home. They told me that the news of firing on the bridge enraged the people going in procession. Consequently, the people were provoked and they burnt three banks and the Town Hall. Five to six white men were killed and there were many incidents of arson and looting. The British officers were not worried about arson. But as five to six white men were killed, they became revengeful. After April 11, The Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar handed over the administration of the city to General Dyer who organised a Flag March in different parts of the city on April 12. He also arrested dozens of innocent people.

"On April 13, a function was organised at Jallianwala Bagh. Nearly 25000 people had assembled in the garden. General Dyer reached Jallianwala Bagh with armed soldiers and without giving any warning ordered them to open fire on unarmed people. No one could estimate the number of people who died. Subsequently when inquiries were held, it was found that more than 1000 people were butchered and about 3000 were wounded.

"But Dear Brother! I am narrating you the story of Thaila Kanjar....I have heard that when his dead body was separated from the body of white soldier who fell from horse his both hands were so hard pressed on his throat that it became very difficult to remove his hands. The white soldier had died in the encounter.

"The next day when the dead body of Thaila was handed over to his family, his body was full of holes created by the bullets showered on him. I believe when the second white men fired at Thaila he was already dead. He treated Thaila only as a target to test his shooting skill.

"It is said that when the body of Thaila was brought to his house people in neighbourhood were terribly shocked. He was not so popular amongst people belonging to his community. But now when people saw his shattered body, they all started crying. His two sisters Shamshad and Almas became unconscious. When his body was lifted for taking it to the cemetery, his two sisters cried and wept so bitterly that all those who witnessed the scene shed tears of blood.

"Dear Brother, I learnt that in 1789, when the French Revolution took place, the first bullet was fired on a prostitute. Deceased Thaila, alias Mohammad Tufail, was also son of a prostitute. In our freedom struggle, the first bullet that was fired at Thaila was 10th or 50th bullet, no one has conducted any research on the subject simply because this poor men had no status in society. I believe that in the list of freedom fighters shot dead during our freedom struggle the name of Thaila will never be included and who knows whether any such list ever will be made...

"While narrating the story, my companion in the train suddenly became silent. The train in which we both were travelling was running at full speed. I felt as if the sound produced by the fast running train on the track was repeatedly making the statement, ‘Thaila is dead. Thaila is buried.’ Sounds of both the statements so much intermingled. There was no interval between his death and his burial. I was totally moved by these two thoughts and these two sounds went on echoing in my mind. At this I asked my co-passenger, ‘You wanted to say something further?’ As if awakened from sleep, he looked at me and said, ‘Yes Brother, another sad part of the story is yet to be told.’

"I asked, ‘What is that?’ He started by saying, ‘I have already told you Thaila had two sisters Shamshad and Almas. Both were very beautiful. Shamshad was tall and slim. She had sharp features and intoxicating eyes. She was a good classical singer. I was told that she learnt music from Fateh Ali Khan. Almas did not possess good voice. But she was a very good dancer. When she danced, it always appeared as if in every movement, every part of her body was communicating something. There was magic in her eye, which had its effects on all those who witnessed her dance.

"My co-passenger took some more time to describe the beauty of both the sisters. But I did not interrupt him. After some time my co-passenger came out of this long narration and turned towards the sad part of the incomplete story and said, "Dear Brother, someone who was pro-British conveyed to the British officers that the two sisters were very beautiful, youthful, and amongst those five persons who were killed there was also whose name was Shawreed.’ The white officers decided that both these sisters should be summoned and I hope that you would understand for what purpose.

"I said, ‘Yes, I understand.’ At this my co-passenger sighed. In tragic moments we look upon even prostitutes as mothers and sisters. It seems our country is not aware of its prestige and respect. When a senior inspector was ordered to bring these sisters, he immediately agreed and went himself to their residence. He told both these sisters that the white officers had summoned them to witness their mujra. The witness of the soil on the grave of their brother had not dried up. It was only two days earlier that he was killed and the two sisters were now being ordered to dance. There cannot be a more painful example of torture. Those giving orders did not even think that even prostitutes have self-respect.

"My co-passenger himself first gave the answer and said, that the prostitutes too have self-respect and then put a question to himself — why should not they have self-respect? When he was addressing me, I nodded my head in response and said, ‘Yes, they too have self-respect.’ He began to narrate the story again and said, ‘After all, Thaila was their brother. He neither died in an encounter, in a gambling house nor was he killed while fighting under the influence of liquor. He had laid down his life for the love of his country and became a martyr.’

"I only asked my co-passenger, ‘Did they go.’ My co-passenger stopped for a while and answered back in a sad tone, ‘Yes, they went wearing glittering, dresses, had full make-up and were bedecked with ornaments.’ While telling this my co-passenger became sad and answered, ‘They went and gave an impressive performance. Both of them looked like fairies. The spectators had several rounds of whisky without any interruption while these two girls went on dancing and singing.’

"My co-passenger turned silent for some time and then he stood up and after bending near a window in the compartment started looking at the trees and posts that the train was leaving behind. This time, he turned his eyes towards me and forcefully said, "Those two young ladies removed their dresses and stood fully naked and one of them said, "Come look at us, we are the sisters of a martyr whose beautiful body was full of holes caused by bullets fired at him. He possessed a soul that loved his motherland.

‘Come, satisfy your hunger of lust and passion, But before doing that allow me to spit on your faces’.

"After saying this my co-passenger became totally silent and it appeared that he would not say anything more. I promptly asked him ‘Then what happened.’ He started crying and said, "Both of them were shot dead".

"I did not say anything. The train had entered the station and when it stopped, my co-passenger summoned a coolie and asked him to pick up his luggage.

"When he was about to leave I asked him, ‘Was the end of the story you told me a product of your own imagination?’ Astonished at this, he looked at me and questioned, ‘How did you know this.’ I replied, ‘There was an inexplicable change in your tone. My co-passenger replied, ‘Yes, those haram (illegitimate)......’

"He did not complete the abusive word. While going, he said, ‘They had indeed tarnished the image of their dead brother who died for a cause.’

Compiled by K. Jagjit Singh