Hyderabad: April 13 marks the anniversary of one of the goriest events in human history and the bleakest period of British governance in India - the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The Jallianwala incident altered the trajectory of history and the nature of India's fight to remove British domination. It was the primary source of motivation for freedom fighters committed to the Indian independence movement for the subsequent 28 years, until India finally achieved liberation from foreign domination.
Jallianwala Bagh Commemoration Day serves as a reminder for all of us about the immense struggle and value of our freedom. April 13 provides a touching opportunity to contemplate colonial brutality and senseless rage, as well as to honour the innocent Indians who perished on that Baisakhi day in 1919.
Significant of the day:
- The Jallianwala Bagh massacre emerged as a significant emblem of the harshness of British colonialism and energized the Indian independence struggle.
- The massacre energized Indian nationalists and fueled the expanding movement for self-rule, culminating in India's eventual liberation from British control. The Jallianwala Bagh Commemoration Day highlights the significance of nonviolent protest and the necessity of honoring the sacrifices made in the fight for justice and freedom.
- As we commemorate the anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, we are reminded of the crucial significance of advocating for justice, freedom, and human rights.
Rowlatt Act, 1919:
The Jallianwala Bagh mass killings took place amid a period of considerable political unrest in India. In 1919, the British colonial administration enacted the Rowlatt Act, a contentious law that allowed the government to arrest and imprison Indian citizens without trial.
The Act led to significant turmoil and demonstrations across the nation, prompting a public assembly at Jallianwala Bagh, a park in Amritsar, to oppose the Act and express solidarity with the leaders detained under its regulations. It was at this tranquil protest that the horrific occurrences of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place.
Tragic event unfolded at Jallianwala Bagh:
On 13th April 1919, people assembled at Jallianwala Bagh to peacefully protest against the arrest of two nationalist leaders, Satya Pal and Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew, under the Rowlatt Act, 1919. Abruptly, a British Army officer, General Dyer, arrived at the park accompanied by his troops. Without any warning to the citizens, he commanded the soldiers to shoot at an unarmed crowd for ten minutes, and once their ammunition was depleted, they departed. The Hunter Commission determined their numbers to be 379 fatalities. Due to the evident inaccuracies in the official statistics about the crowd size (6,000–20,000), the count of rounds fired, and the duration of the shooting, the Indian National Congress launched its own independent investigation, yielding findings that significantly diverged from those of the British Government's inquiry. The number of casualties reported by Congress exceeded 1,500, with around 1,000 people killed.
Significant Protest Against the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre:
- Immediate Outcry and Riots: Just two days post-massacre, on April 15, 1919, unrest broke out in Gujranwala, showcasing anger over the deaths in Amritsar.
- The Non-Cooperation Movement: The Jallianwala Bagh tragedy, coupled with the repressive measures of the British Indian regime, including the Rowlatt Act, ignited the Non-Cooperation Movement, a significant stage of the Indian independence struggle spearheaded by Mahatma Gandhi. “The impossible men of India shall rise and liberate their motherland”, declared Mahatma Gandhi after the Jallian Wala massacre.
- Satyagraha Movement: The Non-Cooperation Movement emerged as a reaction to the Rowlatt Act and the Jallianwala Bagh tragedy, and it was a component of the larger Satyagraha initiative spearheaded by Gandhi.
- Returning knighthood: On 29 May 1919, Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, in protest against the horrifying Jallianwala Bagh massacre, wrote a letter to the Viceroy of India, Lord Chelmsford, urging him to relinquish the knighthood granted to Tagore by the British crown in 1915. “This disproportionate severity of punishment inflicted upon the unfortunate people and method of carrying it out is without parallel in the history of civilized govt.” wrote Rabindra Nath Tagore, the noble laureate, while returning knighthood.
The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre's effect on the Indian freedom movement:
The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre played a crucial role in worsening the relationship between the British and Indians and is seen in India as the pivotal moment that permanently set Indian nationalists on the journey to independence. The incident stunned India as a whole and deeply impacted one of the movement’s leaders, Mohandas Gandhi, who viewed the massacre as an unbearable injustice.
Throughout World War I, Gandhi vigorously supported the British, anticipating that it would lead to partial autonomy for India. However, following the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, he became firm in his belief that India must strive for nothing short of complete independence.
Sardar Udham Singh went to London and took revenge for Jallianwala Bagh
What happened in Jallianwala Bagh on 13 April 1919, anger against the British was at its peak in the whole country, especially the youth of Punjab who had vowed to avenge this ruthless massacre. One of them was the young Sardar Udham Singh, who was so enraged by the incident that he took an oath to kill Colonel Reginald Dyer and Michael Francis O'Dwyer, the then-governor of Punjab, who ordered the firing by taking the soil of Jallian Wala Bagh in his hands. Was. After trying for a full 21 years, he was able to complete his revenge by killing Michael O'Dwyer in 1940. By then, Colonel Reginald Dyer had died. After carrying out the incident, he did not try to run away and got himself arrested.
Jallian Wala Bagh Memorial:
The memorial at this site commemorates the 2000 Indians who were killed or wounded, shot indiscriminately by the British under the command of Gen Michael O”Dyer on April 13, 1919, while participating in a peaceful public meeting. This was one of the major incidents of India’s freedom struggle.The story of this appealing massacre is told in the Martyr’s Gallery at the site. A section of wall with bullet marks still visible is preserved along with the memorial well, in which some people jumped to escape in the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, which is now a national memorial.
Lesser-known facts about the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre:
- Dyer kept commanding the soldiers to shoot at the locations with the highest concentration of the crowd. For 10 minutes, the unfortunate men, women, and children endured gunfire. As many as 1,650 shots were discharged.
- Dyer swiftly imposed a strict curfew in the area, ensuring that medical help would be unable to access the wounded.
- The massacre marked a crucial turning point in the Indian freedom struggle, causing ripples both at home and around the world. Rabindranath Tagore renounced his knighthood in response to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, declaring that Britain could no longer assert any “political expediency, much less moral justification.”
- Mahatma Gandhi initiated the non-cooperation movement following the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.
- During times of panic, certain individuals attempted to scale the walls and were gunned down; others leaped into the well and were overwhelmed by the mass of those who followed suit.
- It is reported that soon after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Bhagat Singh visited the site and even collected some blood-soaked soil.
- Despite its name, Jallianwala Bagh is an enclosed space surrounded by walls on three sides and a back wall formed by buildings and other structures. The sole access to the bagh is via the land area, which is also believed to be a factor in people getting trapped there during the 1919 massacre.
- The sole witness of the massacre, Shingara Singh, died on June 29, 2009, at the age of 113.
Jallianwala Bagh App:
In 2019, a special mobile application was released to honor the centenary of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. The application features a photo gallery of Jallianwala Bagh and includes information about the site's historical background. The Vice President of India, on the 100th anniversary of the massacre in 2019, accurately stated that the suffering and distress still linger in the hearts of all Indians to this day. He mentioned, "History is not just a simple record of occurrences." It reveals the extent to which corrupted minds can sink and warns us to take lessons from history.
