JALLIANWALA
BAGH MASSACRE - MODERN HISTORY
News:
Jallianwala Bagh
massacre: What happened
What's
in the news?
●
On April
13, 1919, what was planned as a protest gathering of Indians in a compound
called Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab, in the British-ruled India,
witnessed violence that would become one of the most lasting memories of the
barbarity of colonial rule.
Rowlatt
Act:
●
The Rowlatt Act (Black Act) was passed on March 10, 1919, authorising the government
to imprison or confine, without a trial, any person associated with seditious
activities. This led to nationwide unrest.
●
These Bills curtailed the civil liberties
of Indians and let colonial forces arrest people without any warrant or trial.
One of the Acts was pushed through the Legislative Council ignoring objections
of elected Indian representatives, leading to resentment among Indians.
●
Some violent protests had been witnessed
in cities of Delhi, Bombay (now Mumbai) and Lahore as well, even as MK Gandhi
called for the launch of a non-violent peaceful protest at the time.
●
Gandhi
initiated Satyagraha to protest against the Rowlatt Act.
●
On
April 7, 1919, Gandhi published an article called Satyagrahi, describing ways
to oppose the Rowlatt Act.
●
Orders were issued to prohibit Gandhi from
entering Punjab and to arrest him if he disobeyed the orders.
●
Sir
Michael O'Dwyer, the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab
(1912-1919), suggested that Gandhi be deported to Burma but this was opposed by
his fellow officials as they felt it might instigate the public.
Arrest
of the two leaders:
●
Dr
Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr Satyapal, the two prominent leaders
who were a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity, organised a peaceful protest against
the Rowlatt Act in Amritsar.
●
On April 9, 1919, Ram Naumi was being
celebrated when O'Dwyer issued orders to the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Irving to
arrest Dr Satyapal and Dr Kitchlew.
●
On April 10, 1919, the infuriated
protestors marched to the Deputy Commissioner's residence to demand the release
of their two leaders.
Events
lead to Jallianwala Bagh Massacre:
●
April
13 saw celebrations for the Sikh festival of Baisakhi,
which marks the onset of Spring and the harvest of winter crops.
●
Simultaneously, the movement for
independence from British rule had been steadily gaining ground in recent
years, and an event was held at Jallianwala Bagh to defy colonial orders and
protest against the recently passed Rowlatt Bills.
Jallianwala
Bagh Massacre:
●
A British Colonel named Reginald Edward Harry Dyer ordered
troops to surround the compound, situated between houses and narrow lanes, and
launched indiscriminate firing on the assembled men, women and children who
lacked the means to escape.
●
Some of them jumped into a well located
within the premises to escape the bullets.
●
According to the British, around 400
people were killed in the firing, the youngest of whom was nine-years-old and
the oldest was 80. Indian historians peg the toll at 1,000.
Condemn
from everywhere:
●
While British rule in India led to
numerous atrocities before and after Jallianwala Bagh, the nature of the
violence that unfolded on unarmed civilians led to widespread condemnation
later, including from British authorities.
●
Wartime British Prime Minister Winston Churchill went on to describe the day as
“monstrous” and an inquiry was set up to probe Dyer’s orders.
Post
Massacre:
●
Two days after the massacre, Martial Law
was clamped down on five districts - Lahore, Amritsar, Gujranwala, Gujarat and
Lyallpur.
●
The declaration of Martial Law was to
empower the Viceroy to direct immediate trial by court-martial of any person
involved in the revolutionary activities. As the news of the massacre spread
across the nation, Tagore renounced his
Knighthood.
Hunter
Commission:
●
On October 14, 1919, the Disorders Inquiry Committee was formed
to inquire about the massacre. It later came to be known as the Hunter
Commission.
●
The Hunter Commission was directed to
announce their verdict on the justifiability, or otherwise, of the steps taken
by the government. All the British officials involved in the administration
during the disturbances in Amritsar were interrogated including General Dyer
and Mr Irving.
●
The Committee indicated the massacre as
one of the darkest episodes of the British Administration.
●
The Hunter Commission in 1920 censured
Dyer for his actions. The Commander-in-Chief directed Brigadier-General Dyer to
resign from his appointment as Brigade Commander and informed him that he would
receive no further employment in India as mentioned in the letter by Montagu to
his Excellency.
Other
related events:
●
On
March 13 1940, at Caxton Hall in London, Udham Singh, an Indian freedom
fighter, killed Michael O'Dwyer who had approved Dyer's
action and was believed to have been the main planner.
●
The Jallianwala Bagh tragedy was one of
the causes that led Mahatma Gandhi to begin organising his first large-scale
and sustained non-violent protest (satyagraha) campaign, the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22).