On April 13, 1919, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, occurred. A large peaceful crowd had gathered at Amritsar's Jallianwala Bagh to protest the arrests of pro-Indian independence leaders Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satya Pal. In response to the protests, Anglo-Indian Brigadier R.E.H. Dyer surrounded the demonstrators with his Gurkha British Indian army units. He ordered his troops to shoot at the crowd after blocking the exit with his troops, and he continued to fire even as the protestors tried to flee. In this article, we will discuss the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre which will be helpful for UPSC exam preparation.

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre - Background

• During World War I (1914–18), the British government of India enacted a series of repressive emergency powers to combat subversive activity.
• By the end of the war, the Indian people had high hopes that those restrictions would be relaxed and that India would be granted more political autonomy.
• In fact, the Montagu-Chelmsford Report, presented to the British Parliament in 1918, advocated for limited local self-government.
• Furthermore, in early 1919, the then-government of India passed what became known as the Rowlatt Acts, which essentially extended the repressive wartime measures.
• The acts sparked widespread outrage and discontent among Indians, particularly in the Punjab region. In early April, Gandhi called for a one-day general strike (Rowlatt Satyagraha) across the country.
• The arrest and expulsion of prominent Indian leaders (Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew) sparked violent protests in Amritsar on April 10, with soldiers firing on civilians and angry mobs killing several foreign nationals.
• Brig. Gen. Reginald Edward Harry Dyer was given command of a force of several dozen troops tasked with restoring order. A ban on public gatherings was one of the measures implemented.

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre - Features

• The intense and harsh Rowlatt Act and the Rowlatt Satyagraha led to extensive mobility of people around the Punjab province and the situation was alarming for the British government.
• To tackle and control the situation, the imperial government launched the Martial Law, which further prevented the assemblage of more than 4 people at a place.
• This all was happening under the rule of Lt. Governor of Punjab, Michael O’Dwyer, and the prominent viceroy of India, Lord Chelmsford.
• The Jallianwala Bagh incident took place on 13th April, 1919, on the day of Baisakhi when a mob of peaceful protestors gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh.
• Along with the protestors, the park also had a crowd of people who came to celebrate Baisakhi.
• The British government, all frustrated and tired with the intense mob and protest, ordered General Dyer to open fire on the innocent and peaceful crowd at the park.
• The unstoppable firing for about 10 minutes took the lives of more than thousands of people including men, women, children, young and old.
• And almost 1500 people were severely injured after 1650 rounds of ammunition were exhausted.
• This violent tragedy hampered the mental stability of the Indians and led them to extensively condemn British authority.
• Although, there were few in Britain as well who criticized this act of British government like that of Winston Churchill and the former Prime Minister HH Ashquith.
• The Hunter Commission was set up by the British government to investigate the massacre. General Dyer was then relieved of his duty in the army in 1920.
• The Lt. Governor of Punjab Michael O’Dwyer was later in 1940, assassinated by Udham Singh in London who had witnessed the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre as a child. The governor was assassinated because he was the one who approved the actions of General Dyer.

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre - Aftermath

• By the 22nd of May 1919, Rabindranath Tagore had learned of the massacre. He attempted to organize a protest meeting in Calcutta before deciding to resign his British knighthood as a "symbolic act of protest."
• The Disorders Inquiry Committee was formed on October 14, 1919, to investigate the massacre. It was later dubbed the Hunter Commission.
• The Hunter Commission was directed to issue a decision on the justification, or lack thereof, of the government's actions.
• All British officials involved in the administration during the Amritsar disturbances, including General Dyer and Mr Irving, were interrogated.
• The massacre at Jallianwalah Bagh infuriated the Indian people, prompting Mahatma Gandhi to launch the Non-Cooperation Movement.
• The Non Cooperation Movement (1920–22) was Gandhi's first large-scale and sustained nonviolent protest (satyagraha) campaign.
• The then-Government of India ordered an investigation into the incident (the Hunter Commission), which censured Dyer and ordered him to resign from the military in 1920.

Conclusion

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre is rightly regarded as a watershed moment in Indian history. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre permanently damaged relations between Indians and Britishers. Following the massacre, the government imposed martial law in Punjab, subjecting the people to the most heinous atrocities, such as public flogging of men, arrest and detention of people for no apparent reason, censorship of mails, the construction of an open cage for the confinement of arrested persons, and other novel punishments. The atrocities in Punjab sparked widespread condemnation.