Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

Subject – History

Context – Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the newly renovated Jallianwala Bagh complex and museum in Amritsar through video conference.

Concept –

• The complex is a memorial dedicated to those who were killed on April 13, 1919 on orders of Brigadier General Reginald Dyer.
• The tragedy, also known as the Massacre of Amritsar exposed the inhuman approach of the British when the British troops under General Reginald Edward Dyer opened fire into an unarmed crowd.
• Earlier Events –
  • The massacre of April 1919 wasn’t an isolated incident, rather an incident that happened with a multitude of factors working in the background.
  • During World War I (1914–18) the British government of India enacted a series of repressive emergency powers that were intended to combat subversive activities.
  • The Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919 popularly known as Rowlatt Act (Black Act) which was passed on 10^th March, 1919, authorized the government to imprison or confine, without a trial, any person associated with seditious activities which led to nationwide unrest.
  • On 13^th April 1919, a crowd of at least 10,000 men, women and children gathered in Jallianwala Bagh to request the release of 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. They were arrested and taken out of the city.
  • Brigadier-General Dyer on hearing about the meeting, deployed his troops and ordered them to open fire. The only exit to the park was sealed and indiscriminate firing took place killing hundreds of innocent civilians.
• Commission of Inquiry set up in the aftermath of the Jallianwala Bagh incident–
• • It was on October 14, 1919, full six months after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, that the Government of India, with approval of the Secretary of State for India, Edwin Montagu, instituted a committee to investigate not only the Jallianwala Bagh incident at Amritsar but also the disturbances which took place in Bombay, Delhi and Punjab.
  • Accordingly the Disorders Inquiry Committee was set up with Lord William Hunter, a former Solicitor General of Scotland as the president with seven members.
  • The report was presented on March 8, 1920 and was in the form of a majority report and a minority report.
  • It later came to be known as the Hunter Commission after the name of chairman, Lord William Hunter. It also had Indian members.

How was the report received by the British government?

• While broadly agreeing that disproportionate force had been used by Brig Gen Dyer at Jallianwala Bagh, the then Secretary of State for India, Edwin Montagu, was of the opinion that, “Brig Gen Dyer displayed honesty of purpose and unflinching adherence to his conception of his duty cannot for a moment be questioned”.
• The then Viceroy, Lord Chemlsford, and his council called Gen Dyer’s actions as ‘bona fide’ and ‘dictated by a stern sense of duty’.
• “In circumstances such as General Dyer was confronted with, an officer must act honestly and vigorously but with as much humanity as the case will permit,” Chelmsford’s council noted even as it recognized that Dyer had faltered.
• As a consequence, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army directed Brig Gen Dyer to resign his appointment as Brigade Commander and informed him that he will receive no further employment in India.

The Indian National Congress appointed its own non-official committee that included Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das, Abbas Tyabji, M.R. Jayakar, and Gandhi to look into the shootings.

• Gandhi soon began organizing his first large-scale and sustained nonviolent protest (satyagraha) campaign, the Non Cooperation Movement (1920–22)which proved a step in the direction of ending the British rule of India 25 years later.