Unsung heroes of 1857 remembered whose remains were dug out from 'Kalianwala Khu' in Ajnala

GS Paul

Amritsar, August 1

Unsung heroes of the 1857 uprising against the British rule, whose remains were dug out from “Kalianwala Khu” in Ajnala, were remembered today on their 166th martyrdom anniversary.

‘Kalianwala Khu’

On August 1, 1857, then Amritsar DC Fredrick Cooper manipulated the trial proceedings of the soldiers of the 26 Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry and ordered their execution. Figures show that 237 were shot dead and 45 died of asphyxiation. Their bodies were dumped into the nearby well that later came to be known as “Kalianwala Khu”.

Officers representing the Army, district administration and social activists participated in the wreath-laying ceremony on the memorial well from which at least 282 human skulls, besides parts of broken jaws and bones, were recovered after three days of digging in 2014. The relics were believed to be of soldiers of the 26 Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry, who had raised the banner of revolt against the British in 1857.

A semblance box of mortal remains of the 282 soldiers was wrapped in a yellow cloth and placed on a raised platform outside the well today for the occasion.

The ceremony commenced with the civilians paying tributes. The Last Post was sounded by the 183 BSF Battalion after the wreaths were laid by the Army officers.

It is said that moved by Sepoy Mangal Pandey’s indomitable courage in 1857, around 500 soldiers of 26 Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry, had raised the banner of revolt at Mian Mir Cantonment in Lahore.