The Ajnala Massacre of 1857 and the Politics of Colonial Violence and Commemoration in Contemporary India

In February 2014, an amateur archaeological team unearthed thousands of bones and other remains from old well in the town Ajnala, located Indian state Punjab. These are believed to belong 282 sepoys who were summarily executed en masse on 1 August 1857 under orders Deputy Commissioner Frederic Cooper, during height Uprising 1857. The discovery bodies has not only reignited fierce debates about violent history British Empire India, but also offers interesting glimpse into some ways that national identity currently being remade negotiated relation colonial past. This article is contested historical narrations, memories, ongoing efforts commemorate Ajnala Massacre. It reveals how public memory violence remain poorly understood, calls for recognition previously forgotten, absent, or erased memories can prompt difficult highly politicized discussions meaning history, identity, politics.