Jallianwala: ‘Khooni Vaisakhi’ to be published in English, Punjabi

Neha Saini
Tribune news service
Amritsar, February 23

Indian diplomat Navdeep Singh Suri, who is translating his grandfather and noted Punjabi novelist Nanak Singh’s poetry on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in English, says that the work was protest poetry at its best. He said his effort would be to recreate the views of his grandfather precisely.

“It’s not just a piece of poetry but also a work of contemporary history. The manner in which he narrated the massacre and the run-up to the massacre, protests against the Rowlatt Act and role of nationalist leaders Saifuddin Kitchlew and Satyapal, it all needs to be told exactly like it was ought to,” said Suri, while speaking at an event at Majha House.

Suri is the Indian Ambassador to the UAE and was born in Amritsar. He said the book would be published in two formats, “I have been working on the English translation while the Punjabi version is being done by my father Kulwant Singh Suri. Both books will come out on April 13, marking 100 years of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.”

Nanak Singh was a survivor of Jallianwala Bagh tragedy and as a 22-year-old, he witnessed the massacre with all its gory details. “My grandfather had fainted after witnessing the massacre. Later, he wrote the book ‘Khooni Vaisakhi’ that was a scathing piece of poetry and was banned after it got published in 1920. The powerful message that comes through his poetry is the spirit of unity among Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in Amritsar at that time and what the British did to break that. The poem presents a very heartbreaking account of the incident. At the same time, it evokes the feeling of nationalism,” said Suri.

He added that some additional content would be added to the translated work in context to the poem. An essay written by Suri titled ‘”The book, bagh and bauji”, in which he narrates personal account of history seen through Nanak Singh’s works and a letter written by Justin Rowlatt, the great grandson of Sir Sidney Arthur Taylor Rowlatt, who drafted the Rowlatt Act, will also be added. “The letter gives an account of Justin Rowlatt’s experience of visiting the Jallianwala Bagh and his shared legacy of the incident,” said Suri.