Mutiny in Meerut
TANUSHREE PODDER
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The storm brewing in the cantonment finally erupted on May 10, 1857, at the church.
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Meerut was the last place that the British envisioned problem since it was the largest British cantonment in Northern India.
ST.JOHN'S CHURCH, MEERUT: Stands mute testimony to the violence of 1857.
It was seven in the evening but the intense heat had the congregation sweating in their Sunday finery. The women elegantly clad in Victorian gowns and the men in their suits wiped their perspiring faces even as service began at St. John's Church. The evening service, which was generally held at 6.30, had been postponed by half an hour, may be due to the heat or may be due to the trouble that had been rumbling within the cantonment for the past few days.
The crowd in the little church began their prayers. Suddenly a band of Indian sepoys burst into the aisle brandishing their swords and bayonets. There was mayhem for the next few minutes as the `mutineers' took the British officers by surprise and massacred a significant number of them.
The day went down as the beginning of a rising that later came to be called `Sepoy Mutiny' by the British. The date was May 10, 1857, and the place, Meerut. This incident was to herald the `Rising' that, for the short duration of a few weeks, managed to shake the British Raj out of complacency.
Warning signs
The officers of the cantonment had heard of the rumblings but ignored the warning signs. All was not well since the introduction of the Enfield rifle in the army. Its cartridge was rumoured to be covered by a membrane, which was greased, by cow or pig fat. This was an offensive proposition for both the Hindu as well as Muslim soldiers. To add fat to fire, the new cartridges had to be bitten off. Meerut was the last place that the British envisioned problem since it was the largest British cantonment in Northern India.
Trouble broke on May 9, 1857, when 85 troopers of the 3rd Light Cavalry at Meerut cantonment refused to use their rifles and were stripped of their uniform in public. Their humiliation was followed by a sentence of ten years of rigorous imprisonment. The incident caused widespread unrest among the Indian soldiers.
In memorium
Established in 1819, St. John's Church was one of the largest and the oldest Anglican churches in North India. The large pipe organ that had once accompanied a 1000-strong congregation of young British soldiers as they sang hymns still stands inside. A few graves of the soldiers who had died on that fateful day lie strewn around the compound of the church bringing to mind the historic event.
The night of May 10, 1857, was one of mayhem and murder as the sepoys seized their weapons from three regiments and attacked the British officers.
More than 700 British soldiers and some of their families had died before the night was over.
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