Hundreds take out candlelight march to Jallianwala Bagh

Hundreds of people, including students, local residents and even visitors, held a candlelight march in Amritsar on Friday evening on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by British Indian forces.

People carried candles in their hands and slowly walked the 1-km distance from the Town Hall building in Amritsar's walled city area towards the Jallianwala Bagh near the Golden Temple complex.

People could be seen carrying and waving scores of national flags with patriotic songs playing in the background.

The march ended at the Jallianwala Bagh where homage was paid to the martyrs.

The 100th anniversary of the killing of hundreds of unarmed, innocent Indians, including women and children, who were protesting peacefully against the Rowlatt Act of the British government, by British Indian forces led by Brigadier General Reginald Dyer, falls on April 13, 1919.

The massacre is one of the darkest chapters of India's freedom struggle to free the country from British occupation. It showed the brutal repression unleashed by the British on Indian subjects.

Punjab Governor V.P. Singh Badnore, state Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, cabinet minister Om Prakash Soni and other prominent people, including members of the families of those killed in the massacre, joined the candlelight march.

Tight security arrangements were made by the Punjab Police and security agencies for the event.

The British government, even after 100 years, has only regretted the massacre but stopped short of apologizing for the killing of so many innocent people.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi is expected to arrive here on Friday night and pay homage to the martyrs of Jallianwala Bagh on Saturday (April 13).

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu will arrive here on Saturday afternoon for the main function to commemorate the 100 years of the massacre.-IANS