100 years on from one of the most infamous incidents during the British rule of India, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar is a lesson even today on the legacy of colonial power and military responsibility. Up to 1,000 people were killed when troops of the British Indian Army fired rifles into a crowd of Punjabis assembled for the Sikh New Year. To mark the centenary and remember those who were lost—the youngest eight and the oldest 80—this event considers the massacre and examines how it galvanised India’s subsequent struggle for independence.

In discussion will be chair of the UK Punjab Heritage Association, Amandeep Singh Madra, broadcast journalist Anita Anand, and historian Kim Wagner.

About The Speakers

Anita Anand

Anita Anand has been a radio and television journalist for almost twenty years. She is the presenter of Any Answers on BBC Radio 4. During her career, she has also presented Drive, Doubletake and the Anita Anand Show on Radio 5 Live, and Saturday Live, The Westminster Hour, Beyond Westminster, Midweek and Woman’s Hour on Radio 4. On BBC television she has presented The Daily Politics, The Sunday Politics and Newsnight.

Amandeep Madra OBE

Amandeep Madra is an author of five books on Punjab and Sikh heritage. He is a founding member of the United Kingdom Punjab Heritage Association (UKPHA) and chairs its Management Board. In 2018 He was awarded an OBE for services to Sikhs and Punjabi Heritage and Culture. Amandeep was a contributor to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Special Committee on Non-Commemoration following which he worked with the University of Greenwich on the Punjab and WW1 project. 

Kim A. Wagner

Kim A. Wagner teaches the history of colonial India and the British Empire at Queen Mary, University of London. His most recent publications include The Skull of Alum Bheg: The Life and Death of a Rebel of 1857 (2017), and Amritsar 1919: An Empire of Fear and the Making of a Massacre (2019).