Amritsar - Jallianwala Bagh and the Pakistani Border Crossing

January 16, 2019

Amritsar - Jallianwala Bagh and the Pakistani Border Crossing

Our Amritsar adventure continues……

After the Golden Temple in Amritsar, we visited Jallianwala Bagh. This is the site of the horrible massacre in April 1919 between the British and local Punjabi people. It stirred up a lot of emotions seeing the small green where so many people lost their lives nearly 100 years ago. This historic massacre that changed the future of India, was basically caused by a misunderstanding.

The British Commander in charge believed there was going to be an uprising of the Indian people on that day. However, this was not correct it was actually just a peaceful festival celebration by the Sikh community at the local garden. Commander Dyer, believing that the people were going to be violent (even though they were all completely unarmed), and ordered his men, approximately 90 of them, to open fire on the large crowd of men, women and children. In the panic that ensued, many of the women and children jumped in the nearby well to their deaths, while many tried to hide behind a small temple but to no avail. The soldiers continued to fire until all ammunition was used and the crowd was no longer moving.

The garden 'Jallianwala Bagh' is now a memorial to all those that lost their lives. There are still signs of the horror that occured day, with bullet marks visible in the external walls of the garden and the small temple. The bodies of the dead were not allowed to be removed and were burned onsite, and this is where the main monument is now placed. The exact number of people killed on that day is disputed but is said to be around 1200 dead and 1000’s injured. This massacre was the beginning of the Indian Freedom movement and the fall of the British Rule in India.

the monument where so many Indians died.

The bullet marks from the soldiers

After some lunch, we were on our way to the Wagah border crossing between India and Pakistan. There is a daily ceremony where the closing of the border is conducted at sunset. The Pakistan and Indian Border Security teams provide a show of strength and pride, before shutting the gates on either side, and lowering the flags of each country.

As you approach the border, you can see all the trucks lined up to cross to the border in the dusty deserted conditions, as this is the only road crossing between the countries it gets quite crowded. I also learned that there is a massive heroin problem in Amritsar and the drugs are all coming across the border from Afghanistan and Pakistan. The corruption within the local and state governments means that the issue is far from being fixed.

The Indian side of the border crowd was much bigger and accommodated with large grandstands, food and drinks being sold, but the Pakistani side is becoming increasingly busier. This is such a popular attraction in Punjab that approximately 15,000 to 25,000 people visit daily. They have a seperate entrance for VIP’s if you a dignitary or International Passport holder - I assume this is because you may only have one chance to see the ceremony, so you get preference on seating. Max and I were promptly told to sit in the front row by the security guard and he was incredibly serious - with his whistle !! People were trying to sit wherever they wanted and this guard, and his trusty whistle, were having none of it - you sat where he pointed. No words were ever spoken - just a lot of hand waving and whistle blowing.

The Indian population were super excited and proud to visit the border and were heavily involved - it felt as though they were as excited as they are when they go to watch India play cricket ! They played popular bollywood songs, everyone danced and sang and joined in with a large Indian flag moving across the crowd. The music was SO SO loud, I can't tell you - Indian style !

When the ceremony began it was incredible - there was lots of chanting and the main call of 'Hindustan Zindabad' (Long Live India !) was repeated over and over. Then the real action begins - the march off ! The Indian and Pakistani sides march towards each other at great pace, with their arms and legs swinging high. Then they stop in front of each other, and do a 'dance off' and attempt to threaten each other - all in fun though. It is like watching two roosters try and out do each other. I think the higher the soldier kicks his leg, the more impressed the crowd was. It is quite difficult to explain, so I have added a couple of videos below for you to see for yourselves.

We absolutely loved it and couldn't stop laughing and cheering as the soldiers got more and more animated in their actions. The lowering of the flags and the closing of the gates ends the ceremony and then there is a mad dash to find your driver and car amongst everyone else's. A fabulous experience, like nothing I have seen before.