The Jallianwala Bagh massacre

 

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre

 

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. A large but peaceful crowd had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab to protest against the arrest of pro-Indian independence leaders Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlu and Dr. Satya Pal. In response to the general public gathering,

 British Brigadier-General Dyer surrounded the Bagh together with his soldiers. The Jallianwala Bagh could only be exited on one side, as its other three sides were enclosed by buildings. After blocking the exit with his troops, he ordered them to shoot at the crowd, continuing to fire even as protestors tried to flee. The troops kept on firing until their ammunition was exhausted. a minimum of 379 people were killed and over 1,200 people were injured of whom 192 were seriously injured.

Responses polarized both the British and Indian peoples. Eminent author Kipling declared at the time that Dyer "did his duty as he saw it". This incident shocked Rabindranath Tagore (the first Indian and Asian Nobel laureate) to such an extent that he renounced his knighthood and stated that "such mass murderers aren't deserve giving any title to anyone".
The massacre caused a re-evaluation by British Army of its military role against civilians to minimal force whenever possible, although later British actions during the Mau Mau insurgencies in Kenya have led historian Huw Bennett to notice that the new policy wasn't always administered . the military was retrained and developed less violent tactics for control .

The level of casual brutality, and lack of any accountability, stunned the whole nation, leading to a wrenching loss of religion of the overall Indian public within the intentions of the UK.] The ineffective inquiry, together with the initial accolades for Dyer, fuelled great widespread anger against the British among the Indian populace, leading to the Non-cooperation movement of 1920–22.] Some historians consider the episode a decisive step towards the top of British rule out India.

During war I, British India contributed to British war effort by providing men and resources. Millions of Indian soldiers and labourers served in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, while both the Indian administration and the princes sent large supplies of food, money, and ammunition. However, Bengal and Punjab remained sources of anticolonial activities. Revolutionary attacks in Bengal, associated increasingly with disturbances in Punjab, were significant enough to nearly paralyse the regional administration. Of these, a pan-Indian mutiny in the British Indian Army planned for February 1915 was the foremost prominent amongst variety of plots formulated between 1914 and 1917 by Indian nationalists in India, the us and Germany.

The planned February mutiny was ultimately thwarted when British intelligence infiltrated the Ghadarite movement, arresting key figures. Mutinies in smaller units and garrisons within India were also crushed. In the scenario of the British war effort and the threat from the militant movement in India, the Defence of India Act 1915 was passed limiting civil and political liberties. Michael O'Dwyer, then the elected official of Punjab, was one among the strongest proponents of the act, in no small part thanks to the Ghadarite threat within the province.
The Hunter Commission report published the subsequent year by the govt of India criticised both Dyer personally and also the govt of the Punjab for failing to compile an in depth casualty count, and quoted a figure offered by the Sewa Samati (a Social Services Society) of 379 identified dead, and approximately 1,200 wounded, of whom 192 were seriously injured. The casualty number estimated by the Indian National Congress was quite 1,500 injured, with approximately 1,000 dead.

Dyer was lauded for his actions by some in Britain, and indeed became a hero among many of these who were directly taking advantage of British Raj, like members of the House of Lords. He was, however, widely denounced and criticised in the House of Commons, whose July 1920 committee of investigation censured him. Because he was a soldier working on orders, he couldn't be tried for murder. The military chose to not bring him before a court-martial, and his only punishment was to be faraway from his current appointment, turned down for a proposed promotion, and barred from further employment in India. Dyer subsequently retired from the military and moved to England, where he died, unrepentant about his actions, in 192711.