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.St. John's church, Meerut Cantt., UP, India patrika.com
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St. John's church, Meerut Cantt. UP, India. en.wikipedia.org
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In so far as India's freedom is concerned no other city became a more prominent flash point and drew the international attention of India's struggle against the British than Meerut city. Next to Barrackpore, W. Bengal Meerut was the second largest East India Company's garrison. Obviously, Meerut city's association with the Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the notorious British Company was not an accidental one. At the right opportunity the pent-up frustration and anger of oppressed Indians came out like a violent volcanic eruption of Krakatoa, Indonesia in 1883 and the city's barracks became sites of ill the government rioting soldiers. The famous slogan "Dilli Chalo" ("Let's march to Delhi!") was first raised here.
Meerut Cantonment is the place where the major rebellion started off when Hindu and Muslim soldiers were given new Enfield rifle cartridges rumored to have a coating of grease made of animal fat both pig and cow. What started out as a localized rebellion had turned out to be a mass struggle covering vast areas of the northern Indian states. Here, in Meerut 89 Indian soldiers who refused to use the greased cartridges to load the rifles were stripped of their uniforms, imprisoned for ten years and shackled - this was a major humiliation for the Indian soldiers. The rebels were from the 3rd cavalry and were from upper-class elite. Unable to bear the humiliation and ill treatment meted out to them, these soldiers, along with other imprisoned soldiers, escaped from the prison and declared themselves free. Then they revolted, attacked and killed several of the British authorities to take the city under their control. This marked the beginning of a widespread revolt across northern India as these soldiers marched towards Delhi. The upraising turned to be a towering inferno and the British added more fuel to it by killing rebels and innocent people in thousands without any mercy. The British burnt down some villages in and around Meerut in retaliation.
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Meerut, UP weather-forecast.com
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During this worst revolt Indians in tens of thousands were killed and on the British side, the rebels mercilessly killed British soldiers, civilians, women and children that might run into a few hundreds.
Here in Meerut, Western UP the 200 year-old sprawling cemetery, located in the
cantonment town, has an old graveyard containing British
casualties of the 1857 Revolt. Under the fallen leaves and foliage lie thousands of graves out of which there are numerous British soldiers' graves including those casualties of the 1857 Revolt around 50. Many tombs have overgrowth of bushes trees, etc., and are heavily damaged. The huge graveyard is not well taken care of due to paucity of funds.
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| St. John's church, Meerut, UP. meerutup.tripod.com |
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St. John's cemetery, Meerut, India.studiodharma.in
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St. John's, Meerut: British cemetery. patrika.com |
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St.John's, Meerut: British cemetery flickr.com |
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St. John's, Meerut: British cemetery. the hindu.com
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An old man by the name of Robinson in his 50s is taking care of the grave and stays close to the grave yard. The public is not allowed to go inside the graves without prior permission. One Jean Thomas, Indian of British origin has been in the past one decade and more has been voluntarily helping the British who want to trace their ancestors in the grave here and has succeeded in helping more than 10 families. As the names and epitaphs, if any, on the graves, having become faded or damaged with no traces, identifying the person in the grave is a tough job. However, Jean Thomas is offering a ray of hope to those who are concerned about the grave of their ancestors who were buried here. Amit Pathak, general-secretary, Cantonment Heritage Society, is of the opinion that "She is committed to her task". And her selfless task continues unabated despite its time-consuming nature. According to him out of 50 plus British soldiers killed in the revolt, 36 were buried here and the rest are not identifiable because of various reasons - graves were made of soft materials and are damaged and some are so cemented identification is a difficult one. Only nine British graves have been identified so far.
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| St.John's cemetery, Meerut. valmayyoung.wordpress.com |
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St. John’s Cemetery, Meerut. the hindu.com
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According to the grave keeper, the oldest grave dates
back to 1810. The first British soldier killed in the revolt, 53 year
old John Finnis' grave is here. He was killed on 10 May 1857 first day
of uprising. Vincent Recar 48 was also killed on the same day, so was John Henry Taylor 57 year old captain. They belong to 20th regiment. 30 year old Louisa Sophia wife of Donald McDonald,
Officer and her 3 young children were brutally murdered by the rebels
while escaping from the burning house at night. Though her Indian servants covered her with a burkha,
she could not escape from the fury of hell-bent mob. Besides, there is a
tall gravestone with 100 European names who died in service between
1988 and 1905 in british India. St. John's cemetery wears a forlorn look implying its loss of old glory and the descent of gloom.
The graveyard is spread over 27 acres and flowering lantana and the presence of venomous snakes, scorpions is a menace to the prospective visitors and needs to be taken care.
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