As we have been saying for a week or so now, our little community diary series will celebrate its tenth Kosiversary tomorrow! And yet … and yet … as I told brillig today, the joy and appreciation about it has dwindled into near insignificance with the terrible news of yesterday. Here we have this fine milestone awaiting, and my heart is heavy. As, I know, are the hearts of so many of our friends and allies.
All day my thoughts have been in Orlando. I lived there for a short time many (MANY MANY!) years ago, but it has a place in my heart, all the same, and more so today than yesterday.
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But for all the thoughts of Orlando, Jallianwala Bagh keeps forcing its way into my mind. Because of a black day in the history of our species back in 1919.
Many of you will recognize the name as being the location where a British military officer massacred untold numbers of human beings in India for the sake of ‘sending a message.’ I realize the similarities between the events may seem small, but, still, I suspect similarities in the mindsets of the perpetrators.
Of course, the officer who led the massacre in 1919 (as far as I know) did not pull a trigger, himself, he nonetheless compelled 50 troops under his direction to fire perhaps 1600 bullets into a crowd of peaceful protesters in the square at Amritsar. Even the British count listed 379 dead, with well over 1000 additional injuries, the Indian tallies lean toward upwards of 1,000 dead.
I had never heard of the incident when I first saw the movie, Gandhi, starring Ben Kingsley. But the video, however accurate, wounded me very deeply. Nearly as powerful was the testimony of the officer in a tribunal that took place after the event. There are several uploads of the movie version of the massacre on YouTube. I am not linking to any of them because I don’t want to see it again, myself, so I certainly won’t obligate anyone else to. But one of the videos eventually shows ‘General’ Dyer (some sources say he was a Colonel when the massacre took place. Churchill and others saw to the termination of his military career as a consequence, but I don’t believe he ever paid any other price for the outrage) testifying before the tribunal. I have taken pains to link to the video ONLY at the point where his testimony begins. (Plus, this link goes ONLY to the tribunal portion of the movie, beginning at 5:08, NOT to video of the massacre as depicted in the movie. I am not embedding it, and it is FINE with me if you choose to not even watch that.)
In that clip, an interrogator asks if it is true that he directed his troops to fire at the thickest part of the crowd. Then, as played by Edward Fox, the General shows no concern, no remorse in answering in the affirmative. Apparently the narrow passage into the grounds deterred him from taking in an armored car, equipped with a machine gun weapon. He answered, further, that had he been able to take it in, he ‘probably’ would have employed that machine gun against his targets.
It is a chilling performance, depicting the officer (I am sure we all have no trouble imagining) as a complete sociopath. The capper is his response about women and children in the crowd. He knew they were there, they were “irrelevant to the ‘point’ he was making.”
And, when asked what provision he made for the wounded, he answered that he was ready to help any who ‘applied.’ So the interrogator asked:
General, how does a child, shot by a .303 Enfield, apply for help?
Never a sleepless night for that one. And, had the murderer in Orlando survived, it is hard to imagine him having the humanity to have trouble sleeping, either, as I am now. As many millions of others are.
One final thought, in a picture of a posting a good friend shared on FB, that further brought home to me the intense reality of this terrible loss.
I do not know Andy Carvin, but I have some sense of what he was trying to convey.
We have a great deal of work to do as a species. I know you know.
On to tonight’s comments! Formatted by brillig.
TOP COMMENTS
Brillig's ObDisclaimer: The decision to publish each nomination lies with the evening's Diarist and/or Comment Formatter. My evenings at the helm, I try reeeeallllyy hard to publish everything without regard to content. I really do, even when I disagree personally with any given nomination. "TopCommentness" lies in the eyes of the nominator and of you, the reader - I leave the decision to you. I do not publish self-nominations (ie your own comments) and if I ruled the world, we'd all build community, supporting and uplifting instead of tearing our fellow Kossacks down. Please remember that comment inclusion in Top Comments does not constitute support or endorsement by diarist, formatter, Top Comments writers or DailyKos. Questions, complaints or comments? Contact brillig.
Searched on “top comment” and found this, from mconvente:
This (by Pi Li) should be a Top Comment, but I doubt the folks have the gumption to accept and publish it as such.
[Note: I really do mean that disclaimer I put up there every time I write or format. I have no agenda except to bring what you the readership want to see here. -brillig]
From belinda ridgewood:
CwV diaried to share John Oliver’s opening about Orlando, and Wee Mama responded with this hopeful comment.
TOP MOJO
Top Mojo for yesterday, June 12th 2016, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on FAQing Top Mojo.
Top Pictures for yesterday, June 12th 2016. Click any picture to be taken to the full comment. Thank you jotter!
Sigh… the DK gremlins appear to have needed tribute tonight, and exacted it in the form of Top Pictures throwing the error of doom: ”An unknown error occurred. We were unable to update this story...” . I’ve been unable to remedy this.