Amritsar Massacre
The Amritsar Massacre, also known as the Jalianwalla Bagh Massacre, was named after the place (Jalianwalla Bagh, in Amritsar), where, on April 13, 1919, British and Gurkha soldiers opened fire on a peaceful political gathering, killing hundreds of Indians.Protesting against the British enactment of Rowlatt Act in 1919, which gave wide coercive powers to the government, and the arrest of nationalist leaders Kichloo and Satyapal, thousands of Indians gathered in the Jalianwalla Bagh in the heart of Amritsar city, one of the major towns of Punjab state. The occasion was Baisakhi Day, a traditional festival on which people celebrate the beginning of the harvesting season by congregating in community fairs. The gathering was in defiance of the prohibitory orders banning a gathering of five or more persons in the city. The Bagh, or park, was bounded on all sides by brick walls and had a single narrow entrance/exit.
Accounts of the British motives vary and rival theories are still contested. One account says that the massacre was a reprisal for the deaths of four Europeans, and the beating of a woman missionary. Another explanation is that it was to crush or break up the gathering. The previous day a large group of rioters had set light to banks and other properties in the town, the British fired shots on this occasion too.
Troops marched to the park accompanied by an armored vehicle on which machine guns were mounted. The vehicle was unable to enter the park compound due to the narrow entrance.
The troops were commanded by General Reginald Dyer who after a couple of warnings to the crowds (some say no warning was given), ordered his men to open fire. Since there was no other exit but the one already manned by the troops, people desperately tried to exit the park by trying to climb the walls of the park. Some people also jumped into a well to escape the bullets.
When the firing was over, hundreds of people had been killed and thousands had been injured. Official estimates were 379 killed and 1200 injured, though the actual figure could be much higher. Debate about the actual figures continues to this day. Fearing a backlash, martial law was imposed by the government.
The event was condemned worldwide and General Dyer was summoned to London to appear before the Hunter Commission in 1920, which found him guilty. Winston Churchill spoke out against Dyer. However, the British Parliament later cleared his name and even praised his ruthlessness. Some upper-class British people raised a fund in his honour, whilst to others on the left he became a hate figure.
In India, the massacre evoked feelings of deep anguish and anger. It catalysed the militant movement in Punjab against British rule and paved the way for Mohandas Gandhi's Non-Cooperation Movement against the British in 1920. The massacre, in short, became a major catalyst for the Indian independence movement.
When India gained independence, a monument to the dead, in the form of the flame was constructed in the Bagh. Even to this day, the markings of the bullets fired by the British troops can be seen on the park walls.
There was another Amritsar Massacre: see Golden Temple Massacre. It led to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination.