Amritsar: April 13, 1919
More than 10,000 men, women and children had gathered at Jallianwala Bagh to celebrate Baisakhi, the beginning of the Sikh New Year. Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer, an officer of the British Indian Army, ordered his troops to block the only entry to the 182m long enclosed space and open fire. At Dyer’s command, the soldiers fired 1650 rounds of bullets for more than 10 minutes. There was no warning and people ran helter-skelter; several jumped into an open well. It is estimated that 1000 people died and more than 1500 were injured.
Jallianwala Bagh memorial in Amritsar. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
Lead up: 1914-1919
The British government had enacted many repressive measures during World War I but did not repeal them after the war ended. Though the Montagu-Chelmsford Report of 1918 recommended limited local self-government, the British government in India passed the notorious Rowlatt Act.
In the first week of April 1919, Gandhiji called for a general strike across the country. Later, news broke in Amritsar that several prominent Indian leaders had been arrested. This sparked violent protests and soldiers fired on civilians. Brig. Gen. Dyer was given the task of restoring order. One of the measures he took was a ban on public gatherings.
After effect
After the incident, a proclamation of martial law that included public floggings was announced in Punjab. The outrage among Indians was palpable. Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore renounced his knighthood. Gandhiji began organising sustained non-violent protests (satyagraha). The massacre was the turning point in India’s fight for independence.
Hunter Commission 1920 and after
Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer
Dyer was censured for his actions and ordered to resign from the military. In 1920, Sir Winston Churchill, then the Secretary of War, condemned Dyer’s actions in a speech to the House of Commons. But the House of Lords praised Dyer and gave him a sword inscribed with the motto ‘Saviour of the Punjab’.
In 2013, Prime Minister David Cameron became the first serving British official to visit the site. He paid tribute to the victims. In the visitor’s book, he wrote, “This was a deeply shameful act in British history, one that Winston Churchill rightly described at that time as ‘monstrous’.”
