103 years of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

Context

The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, also known as the Massacre of Amritsar, was an incident that took place on April 13, 1919.

• On 13 April, we pay tribute to the martyrs who have sacrificed their lives in Jallianwala Bagh at Amritsar. 

About Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

• On 13 April 1919, people gathered at Jallianwala Bagh (Amritsar) to protest against the arrest of the two nationalist leaders, Satya Pal and Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew. 
• These people were protesting peacefully against the Rowlatt Act 1919.
• Suddenly, a British military officer, General Dyer, entered the park with his troops. Without even giving a warning to the people to disperse, he ordered his troops to fire at the unarmed crowd for ten minutes and when their ammunition was exhausted, they left. 
• In those ten minutes, according to the estimates of the congress, about a thousand persons were killed and about 2000 wounded. 
• The bullet marks can still be seen on the walls of the Jallianwala Bagh which is now a national memorial.
• He went to England and some Englishmen collected money to honour him. Others were shocked at this act of brutality and demanded an enquiry. 
• A British newspaper called it one of the most bloody massacres of modern history.
• About 21 years later, on 13 March 1940, Udham Singh, an Indian revolutionary, shot Michael O’Dwyer dead who was the Lt. Governor of Punjab at the time of the Jalliawala Bagh massacre. 
• The massacre aroused the fury of the Indian people and the government replied with further brutalities. People in Punjab were made to crawl on the streets. They were put in open cages and flogged. 
• Newspapers were banned and their editors were put behind the bars or deported. A reign of terror, like the one that followed the suppression of the revolt of 1857, was let loose.