The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

The iniquitous Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place on April 13, 1919. It is a black spot in India’s struggle for freedom from British rule. Jallianwala Bagh is a garden in the northern Indian city of Amritsar. Prior to this incident a demonstration was held to demand the release of two popular leaders of the Indian Independence Movement. A military picket was used to disperse the crowd. The firing set in motion a chain of violence. Later in the day several banks and other government buildings, including the Town Hall and the railway station were attacked and set on fire. The violence continued to escalate, culminating in the deaths of at least 5 Europeans, including government employees and civilians. There was retaliatory firing on the crowd from the military several times during the day, and between 8 and 20 people were killed. By April 13, the British government had decided to place most of the Punjab under martial law. The legislation placed restrictions on a number of freedoms, including freedom of assembly, banning gatherings of more than four people ^.

On April 13, thousands of people gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh near Golden Temple in Amritsar, on Baisakhi, both a harvest and Sikh religious new year. People from all parts of the country had travelled to this place especially for this festival. People had gathered there just to pray peacefully. Suddenly without any provocation, Brigadier Reginald Dyer ordered his soldiers to fire to disperse the public and they started firing indiscriminately. They fired on an unarmed gathering of men, women and children. The firing continued for ten minutes and 1650 rounds were fired. Official sources placed the fatalities at 379. According to private sources the death toll was over 1000, with more than 2000 wounded. As a direct consequence of his actions Dyer was called to appear before the Hunter Commission, a commission of inquiry into the massacre that was ordered to convene by Secretary of State for India Edwin Montagu, in late 1919. Dyer admitted before the commission that he came to know about the meeting at the Jallianwala Bagh at 12:40 hours that day but took no steps to prevent it. He stated that he had gone to the Bagh with the deliberate intention of opening fire if he found a crowd assembled there. The incensed filled the people with rage and incensed them. In the storm of outrage which followed the release of the Hunter Report in 1920, Dyer was placed on the inactive list and his rank reverted to Colonel since he was no longer in command of a Brigade. On 13 March 1940 an Indian revolutionary from Sunam, named Udham Singh, who had witnessed the events in Amritsar and was himself wounded, shot dead Sir Michael O'Dwyer, believed to be the chief planner of the massacre (Dyer having died years earlier in 1927) at the Caxton Hall in London. The bullet holes can be seen on the walls and adjoining buildings to this day. The well into which many people jumped and drowned attempting to save themselves from the hail of bullets is also a protected monument inside the park.