THE BUTCHER OF JHANSI

We shall look at the 1857 War in greater detail at a later date; in this post, I shall attempt to introduce an aspect of the 1857 that has been left untouched by recorded history, which simply does not do justice to the entire heroic and horrendous affair that was the First War Of Independence. Today, let us take a look at a man honoured by the civilized britishers with the Victoria Cross, and was also knighted by the Queen. This man’s name was Hugh Rose, about whom Captain F. W. Pinkney writes : “The example made at Jhansi will, I have no doubt, have an excellent effect in facilitating the tranquilizing of Bundelkhand”…

We in India can refer to him as the Butcher Of Jhansi…

He is the same man who choreographed a terrifying dance of death spread over 4 days – a dance of death that is so horrifying in its detail, so brutal in its scope and so evil in its scale, that it ranks as a genocide as far as I am concerned. This was the Genocide of Jhansi…

This should also give you some idea as to why Rani Lakshmibai is famed throughout The Sovereign Democratic Republic of India… but that is a story that deserves a full blog post in itself…

In the town of Jhansi, all the people that could be caught from young children to men over eighty were massacred. Women, fearing rape, jumped into wells. The English started entering houses demanding money, gold… if a person was spotted, he was killed… “The entire town had turned into a cremation ground… the town was ablaze… as some people tried to hide in the hay, the English set it on fire… as people ran and jumped into the well to escape, the English chased them to the well… and shot them as their heads bobbed above the water” – an eyewitness account

“After he was arrested, a Senior Military Officer ordered the young children of Dulaji Singh aged 5 - 25 (Dulaji was the Regimental Commandant of the Town Guards) to be brought from his house. Thery were lined up in front of him and shot in front of his eyes. Dulaji Singh was then  beheaded. “

“The 2 white soldiers went straight into the Puja Room and saw a couple of baskets… the kicked the baskets… and saw ash… suspecting treasure, they put their hands in… and burnt their hands. The English soldiers, flaming with anger, killed all the members of the Agnihotri family – including women and

I could go on in this vein for quite a bit more  - but you get the drift. The town of Jhansi paid a heavy price for its desire for freedom from oppression; and they were butchered, massacred and looted bone dry. The survivors were in no physical or psychological condition to do anything  of note; such   was the sheer ferocity of this   genocide, that it had a material impact on the entire surrounding areas. To this day, Jhansi is a small hamlet, and on one can imagine what it once was… you have to read the description of Jhansi in its resplendent glory to understand; its bazaars, its palace and its magnificent and famed library… and even then, you will probably fall short: well short.

“Most of the citizens and all of the Queen’s soldiers in Jhansi were killed; the streets were left thick with blood slush. Vultures darkened the skies of the city. Hugh Rose had given strict orders not to allow the Indians to perform the last rites of the dead. After 7 April, when the entire city was stinking, and jackals and vultures roamed greedily in search of decomposed bodies, did he grant permission for the last rites. – Mahashweta Devi

And for this, he was given the Victoria Cross! And Knighted, as well. May I remind everyone that the Victoria Cross is highest award for valor in The United Kingdom. Contrast this with our own Paramvir Chakra, and the people who have won it and their deeds. Truly, his deeds were indeed brave: butchering women and children, killing civilians… The Butcher Of Jhansi. And we Indians are blissfully unaware of the true horror of those 4 days…

In the entire historical record, the above does not find a mention. The record shows a humane and tolerant treatment to the people; the record was, after all, written by The Butcher Of Jhansi himself. According to Rose, even the heavy shelling and cannonading targeted only men!!!!! (Wow, what technology: and this was in 1857!). Remember that they were attacking an entire town… further, Rose makes the claim that it was the Indian Men who killed their women! And this found its way into the official record! -

Why is it that the English records to this day teach of the Black Hole etc where the English died: but is totally silent on these atrocities? Even in the modern day, the Westerner is blissfully unaware of the scale and scope of the horrors and genocide perpetrated in India from 1757 to 1857! The general consensus seems to be that they brought order to India, introduced Railways, laws, education etc! Unfortunately for them their own meticulous records lay bare their claims – as we shall see in my next post: The Distortions of History – And Their Modern Repercussions… you will readily find details of Europeans being massacred in India – but no mention is made of the people they massacred – even today; in the internet age… That, my dear friends, is that hard truth… as I always say, Jaago, Sonewaalon

References: 

1) Operation Red Lotus - Parag Tope

2) 1857: The Real Story Of The Great Uprising - Vishnu Versaikar