Centenary of Dharwad’s mini Jallianwala Bagh

Two years after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar on April 13, 1919, in which several hundred people were killed, a similar incident of the British government opening fire on peaceful protestors took place in Dharwad.

The tragic event, dubbed the ‘mini Jallianwala Bagh’, had evoked a very sharp response from the frontline freedom fighters, including Mahatma Gandhi, Lala Lajpath Rai and others.

On July 1, 1921, three freedom fighters who were picketing in front of a liquor shop near Jakani Bhavi circle in Dharwad were killed by the British, who opened fire. This was a time when the non-cooperation movement was at its peak and the British were rattled.

Earlier, the British government had imprisoned six people who had picketed liquor shops in the city. It was to protest this arrest that hundreds of people had gathered near Jakani Bhavi on July 1, 1921.

To quell the mob, Painter, the then British Collector of Dharwad district, ordered the police to open fire. The police action resulted in the death of three persons, and injured 39 people. The government arrested 29 people on charges of arson and filed a chargesheet against 21 people.

At the time, local dailies in Dharwad were quick to draw parallels with the incident in Amritsar, comparing the collector Painter to General Dyer: ‘Dyer means Painter and Painter means Dyer’ went one headline.

The national leaders of the freedom movement then made a beeline to Dharwad after the incident and motivated scores of people here to get involved in the freedom struggle.

Though there was a demand for an enquiry into the firing, the British did not budge. This resulted in the All India Congress Committee appointing a three member inquiry committee comprising of Abbas Tayabji, Shankar Niyogi and S S Setlur.

In Dharwad, people started observing July 1 as Martyrs Day and held protest meetings and some even fasted as a mark of respect to the martyrs.

During the 25th Independence Day, a ‘Martyr Memorial’ was also erected at the spot where three persons died.

Freedom struggle

The youth of Dharwad responded enthusiastically to the freedom struggle and the call for non-cooperation given by Mahatma Gandhi in 1920.

A large number of freedom fighters were arrested by the British — Ranganath Diwakar (who later became the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting in Nehru’s cabinet), Govindrao Guttal, Krishnarao Mudaveedu, D P Karmarkar (who was Union Health Minister in Nehru’s cabinet), Madhawarao Kabbur and others went to jail several times.

Social worker Uday Yendigeri, who has been working in conserving historical memorials in and around Dharwad, said the killing of freedom fighters and arrest of several people inspired thousands of youth here to plunge into freedom struggle.