India@75 moments: Jallianwala Bagh massacre of Indians in British-ruled India
As per the official records of the British, 350 people died in the massacre, but Congress claimed the number was as high as 1,000 people. It was this event that prompted the start of the Non-Cooperation Movement.
FollowThe Jallianwala Bagh massacre, in which several hundreds of people were killed on April 13, 1919 was a result of indiscriminate firing by the colonial forces.
In 1919, the British government had released an order banning public gatherings to punish civilians for their ‘disobedience’. People were not made aware of the Martian Law imposition that prohibited public gatherings. As a result, thousands gathered to celebrate the festival of Baisakhi, which is marked on April 13 in the year 1919.
Around 50 soldiers of the British Indian Army, under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer, fired on unarmed people who had gathered for Baishakhi at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, on April 13. Brigadier-General Dyer called in troops and ordered them to open fire for 10 mins at the mass gathering. The troops had also blocked the main entrance so no one could flee. Many jumped in wells to save themselves.
As per the official records of the British, 350 people died in the massacre, but Congress claimed the number was as high as 1,000 people. It was this event that prompted the start of the Non-Cooperation Movement.
The only punishment that Dyer, who was lauded for his actions by some in Britain but criticised by the others, had to face was being removed from his post and denied promotion. He was also barred from being deployed in India further.
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre angered the Indian people and Mahatma Gandhi called the Non-Cooperation Movement.
The site of the brutal, unfortunate incident was an enclosed garden in Amritsar, Punjab, known as the Jallianwala Bagh. The event is also addressed as Amritsar Massacre.
The place was closed on three sides as there were houses built around it with their back walls enclosing the area. Barring the main entrance, there was no way for the people gathered to flee.
Rabindranath Tagore refused to accept his knighthood as a protest to the heinous Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
Owing to the same reason, Mahatma Gandhi returned his ‘Kaiser-i-Hind’ award. He was honoured for his role in the Boer War in South Africa by the British government.
Udham Singh, a member of the revolutionist Ghadar party, shot Colonel Reginald Dyer on March 13, 1940. He took revenge for the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.
Shingara Singh, the last known survivor of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, passed away in Amritsar on June 29, 2009, at the age of 113.
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