Poor Queenie...

Last week I mentioned how the parts of Pakistan Queen Elizabeth II was supposed to visit were being cleaned "spic and span," as well as the pains the administration was taking to make sure that her visit would be pleasant and enjoyable. But the Queen's visit to the Subcontinent did not turn out to be entirely pleasant. The "Jallianwala" controversy as well as the unfavourable reaction to Her Majesty's mediation offer on Kashmir marred her visit. I intend to cover Jallianwala this week, so watch out for the Kashmir fiasco next week!

Jallianwala Bagh

The history of the "Jallianwala Massacre" is not a pleasant one. The link just mentioned gives an immensely detailed and heartrending account of the incident that is worth reading. On Apr. 13, 1919, British General Dyer ordered his platoon of infantry to fire into the citizens assembled at Jallianwala Bagh as part of the Baisakhi celebrations. People from across the subcontinent have been demanding that the Queen make a public apology.

Official accounts put the toll at 379 killed and around 2,000 wounded. Dyer, for his part, received a purse of 20,000 pounds (raised unofficially by the British public). In fact, through the rest of his life, Dyer maintained that the carnage had been a "jolly good thing" — a sort of "put them in their place, didn't I?" attitude that, officially, Britain did nothing to censure. Reportedly, General Dyer was hardly remorseful for the massacre. But it has been said that this "jolly good thing" proved to be the beginning of the end of British rule on the Indian Subcontinent.

It was the Indian PM himself who started the whole thing with his statement that the Queen should avoid visiting Amritsar. The stormed kicked up as a result of this statement was for all to see. Newspapers started demanding that the Queen apologize across the board.

"Why just Jallianwala? If the Queen apologises, it should be for all crimes perpetrated under the Union Jack."

Others started to criticize both Pakistani and Indian governments for making elaborate arrangements for the Queen's visit.

Papers in Pakistan blasted the Speaker of the National Assembly for declaring that he was still a "loyal subject" of Her Majesty. An article in The News said,

"Still, the Queen's visit was worth the expense — it bought an insight into the small and slavish minds that rule Pakistan. It also proved that the British may have gone, but freedom remains a dream."