Role of Lahore in 1857 War of Independence.

LAHORE -- An attempt has been made to dispel the common impression that Punjab welcomed the foreign invaders and supported them in a conference on 'Resistance Movements in Punjab During Colonial Times' at the Lahore Museum on Saturday.

Various speakers spoke on the role of Punjab, especially related to the War of Independence of 1857.

'Regarding Lahore, the most important event was Ajnala massacre near Amritsar city when about 600 soldiers of 36 infantry regiment had defected from the British Army, they killed the British officers and tried to reach Delhi. Near Ajnala, the local chief informed Deputy Commissioner Fredrick Cooper about it,' Talha Shafiq, a researcher from the Govt College University (GCU), said during a session titled, Role of Lahore in the War of Independence of 1857'.

Giving further details of the incident, he said with the help of police and his own men, the local chief followed the defecting soldiers. Some of them died, about 282 others crossed the Ravi and reached an island in the river until Cooper reached there. According to Cooper's account, published in his own book, 245 soldiers were disposed of at Ajnala, 35 drowned and 150 were killed by the police, two soldiers were executed, 45 were sent to Lahore who were later blown up by Lord Montgomery.

He admitted disposing of the bodies of 282 soldiers into a well. In 2014, the well was excavated where a gurdwara was built and remains of the soldiers, belonging to Hindu, Muslim and Sikh religions, were covered, Shafique said.

Shafiq said Punjab had always been ignored with reference to the War of Independence of 1857, compared to Meerut or Delhi.

'While there is a myth that Punjab had favoured the invaders and it was the favourite child of the British, Ahmed Khan Kharal is remembered for his fight against the British, but nobody talks about the area in which Lahore was situated.' Giving the historical background, he said, there was a time of chaos after the death of Ranjit Singh. He said when the British came to Punjab, they came to rule, not to trade as it happened in the rest of India.

'When the resistance started in Meerut on May 10 (1857), it slowly started spreading to the rest of India. In Punjab, skirmishes started on May 13. Nana Sahib, a main figure of 1857 war had visited Punjab. The correspondent of Times in Punjab had written that Nana Sahib had come to Punjab with Azimullah Khan and tried to move the people against the British colonisers.'

Shafiq said in...