This is a blog in the memory of all massacres that have been forgotten. Every single country today and the US the most, leads in blathering about their role in defending freedom and saving the world. But each of them has blots on their rhetoric. Napoleon(?) was right when he said that history is written by the victors. In all the incidents mentioned below, all occurring in the last century, we see how people find it so easy to disregard some one's right of life and easier to forget.
The Katyn Massacre 1940
Poland thought that it had covered its bases pretty well. It had made pacts with UK and others to protect its sovereignty from the Germans. It had a separate agreement with the Soviets to honour its territorial borders. Unfortunately, all these agreements meant squat when the Soviets-with a separate secret treaty with Germany to help- decided they deserved Poland. In what must have been one of the fastest take over in recent history, Poland was soon over run. The polish army's surrendered officers-made up of conscripted intellectuals and soldiers were taken POW. Here, Soviets decided to solve two problems at one go-destroy any present-and future resistance to Communist rule and weaken Poland sufficiently in the long run to protect their eastern borders. Result- 15000+ Polish officers-doctors, lawyers, scientists, artists were taken to the "commonly used" burial grounds and shot dead within 8 hours and promptly buried into mass graves treated with lime to dissolve the bones faster. By then, the Germans had taken over the role of Enemy no. 1 and the fall guy was ready too. Till 1945, Soviets kept pretending, with the knowledge and support of UK and US, that the POWs of 1940 had vanished into thin air from their custody, to somehow land a year later into Nazi hands. It was only in 1995, when de classified proved Stalin's personal role in sanctioning this act, that Russia accepted blame for its actions. However even today the present Russian government has refused to classify this massacre as 'genocide', instead defining the murder of almost 18000 Poles as "murder" and therefore beyond prosecution under the statute of limitations.
My Lai Massacre 1968
He fired at [the baby] with a .45. He missed. We all laughed. He got up three or four feet closer and missed again. We laughed. Then he got up right on top and plugged him.
We have a nice one here from our darling savior of the civilised world-the US. Prior to the Iraqi invasion, the Vietnam war definitely ranked high as one of US greatest blunders. It also was the scene of one of the most horrifying atrocities committed-and pardoned-by the armies of a nation. Tired of being on the wrong end of Viet Cong attacks, the Charlie company of the 1st battalion decided to bomb out the enemy, supposedly hiding in the hamlet of My Lai. In a four wave attack, US soldiers sexually abused, tortured, maimed, mutilated and comprehensively massacred approx 500 civilian men, women and children. Anything that moved, was taken as target practice and shot down. Ultimately the bloodbath was stopped through the efforts of three soldiers who saw the massacre from their helicopter. One of the soldiers involved committed suicide on the anniversary of the massacre, haunted by his actions on that day. Only one of the soldiers involved in the incident was found guilty, the rest being let off as being "under orders"- the very defense used by Nazis at the Nuremberg trials. Need more be said?
Qissa Khwani bazaar massacre 1930
Unlike the Jalianwala Bagh, this is a forgotten incident in Indian History, when British soldiers in Peshawar fired continuously for 6 hours on a non-violent meeting of Khudai Khidmatgar following Pushtus, leaving a death toll of 400 approx. The firing continued even after the the Pushtu leaders requested permission to disperse with their wounded and their dead. The Royal Garwhal Rifle-known for its bravery was arrested and punished to the last man for refusing to take part in this atrocity. Even after the incident, the British tried to bribe the judge of the commission investigating the massacre with a KBC. Today, this misaal of non-violence by the Pushtus has been buried with time.
