The Martyrdom Day of Shaheed Udham Singh is a regional Indian public holiday observed in the states of Haryana and Punjab on July 31st. This day commemorates the execution of a famous revolutionary on this day in 1940.
In one of the more shameful episodes of the British Empire, on April 13th 1919, Indian troops under the command of Brig-Gen Reginald “Rex”’ Dyer fired on peaceful demonstrators in a walled garden (the Jallianwala Bagh) in the city of Amritsar in the Punjab. At least 379 were killed and more than a 1,000 injured.
Liberal Britain and Indian nationalists denounced the massacre; Winston Churchill called it a “monstrous event” and Dyer had to retire in disgrace. Shaheed Udham Singh witnessed the massacre first hand and vowed from that day forward he would track down the men responsible for the foul deed.
Sir Michael O’Dwyer was Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab at the time of the massacre. Although O’Dwyer did not order the massacre, he sent a message afterwards approving of what Dyer had done which made many people, including Singh, consider O’Dwyer as responsible for the killings. O’Dwyer didn’t deflect any blame, by bullishly continuing to defend the use of lethal force at Jallianwala Bagh.
O’Dwyer retired from the Indian Civil Service in 1925. On March 13th 1940, O’Dwyer made a rare public appearance at a public meeting in London to discuss the future of Afghanistan. At the end of the meeting, Singh made true on the vow he had made over 21 years earlier by walking up to O’Dwyer and shooting him twice through the heart.
During the subsequent trial for killing O’Dwyer, Singh said, “He wanted to crush the spirit of my people, so I have crushed him. For a full 21 years, I have been trying to wreak vengeance. I am happy that I have done the job. I am not scared of death. I am dying for my country.” Singh was executed on July 31st 1940.
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Today is the birthday, in 1958, of Bill Berry, drums, R.E.M. (1991 UK No.6 & US No.10 single ‘Shiny Happy People’, plus over 20 Top 40 UK singles, 1992 UK No.1 & US No.2 album ‘Automatic For The People’). Berry quit the band in 1997. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYOKMUTTDdA
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