The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre: The Story of a Nation's Struggle for Freedom

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre occurred on the evening of Sunday, April 13, 1919.
British armed forces stationed in Amritsar opened fire on an unarmed gathering of
men, women, and children in response to their protests against the arrest of two
independence activists. The shootings left more than 400 Indian protesters dead
and wounded another 1,200 people. This tragic incident is also known as the
Amritsar massacre. Many historians consider this event as one of the major causes
of India’s eventual independence from Britain. The story of the Jallianwala Bagh
Massacre is also a story about how people chose to fight injustice even when faced
with insurmountable odds. It is about patriotism and self-sacrifice; about the
strength of character and unyielding faith in what is right. The Jallianwala Bagh
Massacre — The Story Of A Nation’s Struggle For Freedom explores this historic
event in detail. Needless to say, the facts are very disturbing and brutal but
necessary to understand how exactly did things go south for India so quickly?

The Background of Jallianwala Bagh

The city of Amritsar has always been a place of great importance for the Indian
people. It is located on the eastern side of Punjab, just south of the Ravi River. The
city was founded in 1579 by Guru Ram Das, the fourth Sikh guru. In the decades
before the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Amritsar had become an important center for
the Indian independence movement. The British Raj had begun its rule over India in
the mid-19th century, and many Indians were dissatisfied with the oppressive
British policies. The discontent with British rule was particularly strong in Punjab.
The Indian National Congress (or Congress Party), India’s first major political party
of the freedom struggle, was founded in Amritsar in 1885.

The Road to the Amritsar Massacre

The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre was the culmination of a series of unfortunate
events.

British India provided supplies and personnel to the British military during World
War I. The Indian government and the princes both contributed copious amounts of
food, cash, and ammunition while millions of Indian soldiers and laborers served in
Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Anti-colonial actions continued to be based in
Bengal and Punjab. Attacks by revolutionaries in Bengal, which were becoming
more closely related to unrest in Punjab, were significant enough to almost bring
down the regional government. Several plans by Indian nationalists in India, the
United States, and Germany were developed between 1914 and 1917, the most
notable of which was a pan-Indian insurrection in the British Indian Army planned
for February 1915. The planned mutiny in February was thwarted when British
intelligence infiltrated the Ghadarite movement and arrested key figures. Mutinies
in smaller units and garrisons were also crushed within India. The Defence of India
Act 1915 was passed in response to the British war effort and the threat posed by
the militant movement in India. It limited civil and political liberties. Michael
O'Dwyer, the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab at the time, was a strong supporter of
the act, owing in part to the province's Ghadarite threat.

But the most important event that led to the inhuman bloodshed in Jallianwala was
the passage of the Rowlatt Act in March 1919. The Rowlatt Act was a special piece of
legislation designed by Sir Sydney Rowlatt to give the British government increased
powers to suppress the Indian independence movement.

The law provided the government the right to imprison any suspect for up to two
years without a trial and arrest them without a warrant. The measure suspended
the constitutional right to habeas corpus and removed people's ability to engage in
legal discourse. In the years following World War I, the Rowlatt act expanded the
emergency law. The statute also severely curtailed journalistic freedom and gave
police unwarranted authority to search both public and private areas without a
warrant and a permanent prohibition on all kinds of public gatherings.

Even though the Act had been passed without any opposition from the Indian
legislative council members, several Indian leaders were greatly opposed to it. For
example, Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of the Indian freedom movement, and other
prominent Indian figures had declared a “satyagraha” or mass civil disobedience
against the Rowlatt Act. The Amritsar massacre took place just a few months after
the passage of the Rowlatt Act and was the result of the growing tension between
the British armed forces and Indian protesters. Several Indian leaders had organized
a series of protests against the Rowlatt Act in Amritsar. The most important of these
was the “Kissa Khwani” or the “Storyteller’s Convention”.

The Red Day

Dyer convinced that a major insurgency was imminent, banned all meetings on April
13, 1919. This notice was not widely circulated, and many villagers gathered in the
Bagh to celebrate the important Sikh and Hindu festival of Baisakhi and peacefully
protest the arrest and deportation of two national leaders, Satyapal and Saifuddin
Kitchlew.

At 9:00 a.m. on April 13, 1919, during the traditional Baisakhi festival, Reginald
Dyer, the acting military commander for Amritsar and its environs, proceeded
through the city with several city officials, announcing the implementation of a pass
system to enter or leave Amritsar, a curfew beginning at 20:00 that night, and a ban
on all processions and public meetings of four or more people. The proclamation
was read and explained in English, Urdu, Hindi, and Punjabi, but few people seemed
to pay attention to it or appear to have learned about it later. Meanwhile, word of
mouth and plainclothes detectives in the crowds provided local police with
information about the planned meeting in Jallianwala Bagh. Dyer was informed of
the meeting at 12:40 and returned to his base around 13:30 to decide how to handle
it.

Thousands of Indians had gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh (garden) near the
Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar by mid-afternoon. Many of those present had
previously worshipped at the Golden Temple and were returning home through the
Bagh. The Bagh was (and still is) an open area of six to seven acres in size, roughly
200 yards by 200 yards in size, and surrounded by walls about ten feet tall.
Balconies of three to four-story-tall houses overlooked the Bagh, and five narrow
entrances, some with lockable gates, opened onto it. It was planted with crops
during the rainy season, but it also served as a local meeting and recreation area for
the majority of the year. A samadhi (cremation place) and a big well partially filled
with water measuring about 20 feet in diameter were located in the center of the
Bagh.

Colonel Dyer arrived at the Bagh with a group of 50 troops, including 25 Gurkhas
from the 1/9 Gurkha Rifles (1st battalion, 9th Gurkha Rifles), 25 Sikhs, Pathans, and
Baluch from the 59th Sindh Rifles, and 25 Sikhs from the 54th Sikhs Rifles. Fifty of
them were armed with Lee-Enfield bolt-action rifles with .303 calibre. Dyer may
have recruited troops from those ethnic groups precisely because of their
demonstrated allegiance to the British. He had also brought two armored cars
mounted with machine guns, but they were unable to enter the compound due to
the limited entrances. The Jallianwala Bagh was bordered by houses and buildings
on all sides and had just five small entrances, the majority of which were
permanently locked. The main entrance was reasonably broad, but it was tightly
guarded by troops backed up by armored vehicles to prevent anyone from escaping.

Dyer shut down the main exits without alerting the audience. Dyer directed his
forces to fire toward the densest areas of the crowd in front of the available limited
entrances, where frantic people were attempting to flee the Bagh. The shooting
lasted about ten minutes. Unarmed civilians were killed, including men, women, the
elderly, and children. This event became known as the Amritsar massacre. Only
after ammo supplies were nearly depleted was a cease-fire order issued. Later, he
indicated that the purpose of this conduct was "not to disperse the meeting, but to
punish the Indians for disobedience."

The next day, Dyer reported in a broadcast that "I've heard that between 200 and
300 people were slain in the throng. My group fired 1,650 bullets ". Aside from the
many deaths immediately caused by the gunfire, several people died as a result of
crushing in the stampedes at the tight gates or by plunging into the compound's lone
well to escape the shooting. After independence, a memorial at the site indicates
that 120 bodies were removed from the well. Dyer pushed the curfew hour earlier
than usual; as a result, the wounded could not be transported from where they had
fallen, and more injured people perished during the night.

The Impact of the Amritsar Massacre and its Aftermath

The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre was a tragic event for the Indian people, but it also
strengthened their resolve to gain independence from the British Raj. For example,
the massacre is believed to have significantly contributed to the growth of the
Indian National Congress. Following the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre and the
subsequent passage of the Rowlatt Act, many Indian leaders decided to break away
from the non-violent approach to the freedom struggle.

Many moderate Indians abandoned their earlier devotion to the British and became
patriots skeptical of British rule as a result of this occurrence.

Colonel Dyer informed his superiors that he had been "confronted by a

revolutionary army," to which Major General William Beynon responded, "Your
response was correct, and Lieutenant Governor approves." O'Dwyer requested that
martial law be imposed on Amritsar and other places, which Viceroy Lord
Chelmsford granted.

The British Crown and Government had promised justice to the distressed Indians
for this non- compensable loss. Under this pretense, Michael O Dyer was summoned
to Britain. The Indians had demanded capital punishment for the perpetrator but
unknown to many, Michael O Dyer was rewarded with a handsome amount and
lauded for his brutal acts in Britain.
On the other hand, the massacre caused many Englishmen to question the
effectiveness of their policies in India. The Amritsar massacre was also the first
event that brought worldwide attention to the struggle for Indian independence.
Many Indian leaders have described the massacre as the “shot heard round the
world” or “kismat ke din”.

Lessons from the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

There are several important lessons that we can learn from the Jallianwala Bagh
Massacre. One of the most important of these is the need for fair and just
governance.

This cruel event exhibited the lack of concern the colonial regime had for its people
and how little the lives of Indians mattered to them. This bloodshed displayed the
barbaric tendencies of the British who hailed themselves as 'civilized and erudite'.

Another important lesson from the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre is that violence isn’t
always effective. Given the nature of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, there isn’t any
way to say that it was successful. On the other hand, the people of India did
eventually gain independence from the British Raj. Therefore, it can be argued that
non-violent protest and other forms of non-cooperation can be very effective.

The descendants of the casualties, the survivors, and the witnesses have suffered
scars that will forever be etched into their minds. They still recall the horror and
assert that even though many years have passed, certain things cannot be 'forgiven
or forgotten.'

Bottomline
The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre was a tragic event that resulted in the deaths of
hundreds of innocent people. While there is no denying the brutality of this
massacre, it is important to remember that it led to significant changes in the Indian
freedom struggle. This tragic incident also led to the growth of the Indian National
Congress, the first major political party of the freedom struggle.