Karan Johar Condemns General Dyer’s Great-Granddaughter for Calling Jallianwala Bagh Victim “a Looter”

Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar has expressed outrage over resurfaced footage from a 2019 Channel 4 documentary in which Caroline Dyer, the great-granddaughter of General Reginald Dyer—the man behind the Jallianwala Bagh massacre—described a survivor of the horrific incident as “a looter.”

The clip, which has gone viral on social media, features Caroline Dyer meeting Raj Kohli, the descendant of Balwant Singh—a survivor of the 1919 massacre who escaped death by hiding under a pile of corpses. During their conversation, Caroline referred to Singh as “a looter,” a comment that has drawn sharp criticism from netizens, public figures, and historians alike.

Karan Johar joined the chorus of disapproval, stating, “It makes me so angry. The insensitivity and audacity to refer to a victim of a brutal colonial atrocity as a ‘looter’ is beyond offensive. This kind of historical revisionism cannot be tolerated.”

In the documentary, Caroline further attempted to humanize her great-grandfather by stating he was “greatly liked by Indians” and spoke “three or four Indian languages,” which she claimed was uncommon at the time. These remarks have also been met with disbelief and criticism, with many pointing out that language skills do not excuse mass murder.

General Dyer ordered British troops to fire upon thousands of unarmed Indian men, women, and children gathered at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar on April 13, 1919. The massacre left hundreds dead and is widely considered one of the darkest chapters in colonial Indian history.

Social media users and public figures have demanded a formal apology from Caroline Dyer and have called for better education around colonial atrocities and their lasting impact.