Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
Jallianwala Bagh Massacre also called the Massacre of Amritsar; is dated 13 April 1919. This is when the British troops fired on a large crowd of unarmed Indians in an open space known as Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, in the state of Punjab. Killing a hundred people and wounding more hundred people in the incident. It is referred to as a turning point in Modern Indian History as it left a permanent scar on Indo-British relations and prelude to Mahatma Gandhi’s full commitment to Indian Nationalism and independence from the British.
The British government of India during World War I, enacted repressive powers intended to combat disruptive activities. By end of the war, Indians expected the reduction of such measures and are given political autonomy. The Montagu- Chelmsford Report presented in 1918 in the British Parliament, recommended instead limited local self-government. Instead, Rowlatt Act was passed in early 1919, extending repressive wartime measures.
The Rowlatt Act (Black Act) was passed on March 10, 1919, which authorize the government to imprison, without a trial, any person associated with seditious activities, which led to nationwide unrest. Gandhiji initiated Satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act. In Amritsar, the news of prominent Indian leaders had been arrested and banished from the city sparked violent protests on April 10, in which soldiers fired upon civilians, buildings were looted and angry mobs killed several foreign nationals. Dozen of troops under Brig. Gen. Reginald Edward Harry Dyer was given the task of restoring peace. The measures, banning public gatherings were one of them.
Jallianwala Bagh Massacre Incident
On the afternoon of April 13, a crowd of around 10,000 men, women, and children gathered in Jallianwala Bagh, which was enclosed by walls and had only one exit. It is uncertain how many people present there were protesting against the public gathering and how many celebrate Baisakhi, a spring festival. The single access to the park was guarded by a regiment of soldiers when General Dyer, a British military commander, proclaimed the assembly unlawful and abruptly ordered his troops to open fire. Ten minutes of continuous fire happened until all the ammunition was used. According to one official record, an estimated 379 people were killed and around 1,200 more were wounded. After the cease-fire, the troops immediately left the place, with people bleeding and dying.
The firing was followed by the proclamation of martial law in Punjab which included public floggings and other types of humiliation. The sentiments and outrage of the Indians grew, as the news spread of the shooting and subsequent actions of the British. Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore renounced the knighthood that he received in 1915 and Gandhiji organized a large-scale and sustained non-violent protest and noncooperation movement.
The government set up the Hunter Commission to look into the matter. The assault was judged “unutterably horrible” by Secretary of State for War Winston Churchill, and in the House of Commons debate on July 8, 1920, lawmakers voted 247 to 37 against Dyer. However, the unsuccessful inquiry and the early accolades for Dyer fueled a significant deal of general resentment toward the British among the Indian public, giving rise to the non-cooperation movement of 1920–1922. Some historians saw the incident as a turning point in the British Empire’s dominance of India. While expressing “deep remorse” in 2019, Britain has never officially apologized for the killings. The general populace of India had a searing loss of trust in the United Kingdom’s objectives as a result of the amount of casual cruelty and absence of any accountability that shocked the whole nation.
Causes of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
The main reason behind the massacre was that the British government has passed the Rowlatt Act of 1919. The British government introduced the Rowlatt Act to tighten its control over the populace. The Imperial Legislative Council approved this law in March 1919, giving them the authority to detain anybody without a trial. This law gave the British government the power to detain anybody accused of terrorist activity. It also gave the government permission to hold these persons who were detained for up to two years without a trial. It gave police authority to conduct a location search without a warrant. The press’s freedom was likewise severely curtailed by it.
According to the recommendations of the Rowlatt Committee, which was presided over by Sir Sidney Rowlatt, a judge and the act’s namesake, the act was approved. Both the public and Indian politicians strongly condemned the action. The notes became referred to as “black bills.” The Indian council members unanimously opposed the measure and all submitted their resignations in protest, yet it was nonetheless passed. Mazhar Ul Haq, Madan Mohan Malviya, and Mohammed Ali Jinnah were among them.
Gandhi and the other leaders demanded a Hartal (suspension of labor) to demonstrate Indians’ opposition to this law, known as the Rowlatt Satyagraha, in order to remove this act. Gandhiji decided to call off the movement after it was plagued by violence in various regions, especially poor Punjab. The main goal of the British administration was to crush the nation’s expanding nationalist movement. A Ghadar movement in Punjab and the rest of the nation also terrified the British.
Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew, two well-liked Congressmen, were detained. When the law took effect, there was a huge uprising, and the army was dispatched to Punjab to put an end to it.
When martial law was imposed in Punjab, it was forbidden for groups of more than four persons to gather anywhere. Michael O’Dwyer served as Punjab’s Lieutenant-Governor at the time. The Viceroy of India was Lord Chelmsford. A group of peaceful protestors had gathered in Jallianwala Bagh, a public area in Amritsar, on April 13, 1919, the day of the Baisakhi festival. Pilgrims who had come to celebrate Baisakhi were also present at the gathering. The only restricted entry to the garden was shut when General Dyer arrived with his men. He then abruptly ordered his soldiers to open fire on the unarmed crowd, which also included children.
This massacre happened. In 1927, Reginald Dyer succumbed to an illness. In retaliation for the massacre in Amritsar, an Indian activist named Udham Singh shot the Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab, Michael O’Dwyer, at a joint meeting of the East India Association and the Central Asian Society (now the Royal Society for Asian Affairs) on March 13, 1940, in Caxton Hall in Westminster, London. O’Dwyer was 75 years old.
The aftermath of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
Many moderate Indians were turned into nationalists as a result of this incident, abandoning their earlier loyalty to the British. Major General William Beynon responded to Colonel Dyer’s report to his superiors that he had been “confronted by a revolutionary army” by saying, “Your action was proper and Lieutenant Governor agrees.” Viceroy Lord Chelmsford agreed to O’Dwyer’s plea to impose martial law in Amritsar and other locations. In various north Indian cities, the public went to the streets.
Government buildings were burned down, and there were strikes and chases against the police. In retaliation, the authorities terrorized and humiliated the people. Villages around Gujranwala in Punjab (now in Pakistan) were blasted in addition to people being skinned alive. Satyagrahis were forced to bow before all the senior officials by touching their noses to the ground.
FAQs on Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
Question 1: What is the date of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre?
Answer:
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre is dated as 13 April 1919, has records kept by the British government show that the indiscriminate fire ordered by Colonel Reginald Dyer resulted in the deaths of 379 persons, including men, women, and children, and 1,200 injuries.
Question 2: Where Jallianwala Bagh Massacre took place in?
Answer:
The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre took place in Amritsar, Punjab. This is when the British troops fired on a large crowd of unarmed Indians in an open space known as Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, in the state of Punjab. Killing a hundred people and wounding more hundred people in the incident.
Question 3: Who ordered Jallianwala Bagh Massacre?
Answer:
General Dyer blocked the only entrance to Jallianwala Bagh and ordered his troops to open fire on the unarmed civilians in 13th April 1919.
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