Context (From Wiki ): On 11 April, Marcella Sherwood, an elderly English missionary, fearing for the safety of the approximately 600 Indian children under her care, was on her way to shut the schools and send the children home. While travelling through a narrow street called the Kucha Kurrichhan, she was caught by a mob who violently attacked her. She was rescued by some local Indians, including the father of one of her pupils, who hid her from the mob and then smuggled her to the safety of Gobindgarh Fort.

After visiting Sherwood on 19 April, the local commander of Indian Army forces, Brigadier General Dyer, enraged at the assault, issued an order requiring every Indian man using that street to crawl its length on his hands and knees as a punishment.

Dyer later explained to a British inspector: “Some Indians crawl face downwards in front of their gods. I wanted them to know that a British woman is as sacred as a Hindu god and therefore they have to crawl in front of her, too.” He also authorised the indiscriminate public whipping of locals who came within lathi length of a police officer. Marcella Sherwood later defended Dyer, describing him as “the saviour of the Punjab”.

  • PugJesus@piefed.socialMEnglish
    28·
    3 months ago

    Sherwood declined the full compensation offered from the British Government in India.[6][10] When asked by the Coventry Standard as to why she declined it she replied “I hear not the cries of ‘kill kill’ in that street but the shouts of leave her alone, she is a woman, raised in another street. It was Indians who rescued me, an Indian house that gave me shelter, Indian hands that first dressed my wounds, that is full compensation. I would not have it otherwise”.[5] She accepted ₹1,500 in compensation for medical expenses and for her damaged bicycle and watch.[11]

    Marcella Sherwood later defended Dyer, describing him as “the saviour of the Punjab”.

    Astounding what contradictory ideas otherwise normal people are capable of holding in their heads when conditioned by a colonial outlook.