Remembering Jallianwala Bagh carnage that reshaped the Indian Freedom Movement

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More than a century ago — on April 13, 1919 — the British massacred hundreds of innocent and unarmed Indians at Amritsar's Jallianwala Bagh, stamping one of the biggest blots on English rule in India!</p>
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Keeping in mind the solemnity of this historic event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today paid tribute to the martyrs of Jallianwala Bagh massacre who perished exactly 102 years ago. In his tweet he said: “Tributes to those martyred in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Their courage, heroism and sacrifice gives strength to every Indian.”</p>
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Tributes to those martyred in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Their courage, heroism and sacrifice gives strength to every Indian.</p>
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1381798148817907724?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 13, 2021</a></blockquote>
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<strong>The gruesome incident</strong></p>
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Etched permanently in Indian history and the freedom movement, this gruesome massacre took place on Sunday on the traditional Baisakhi festival. The Acting Commander of Amritsar and its surrounding areas, Reginald Dyer and his men, had announced the requirement of pass to enter or leave Amritsar. Besides, a night curfew from 8 was to be imposed; while all processions and public meetings consisting of four or more persons, was banned.</p>
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The local police had meanwhile gathered through their sources, detectives and informers of a congregation being at Jallianwala Bagh.</p>
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<strong>Swelling crowds</strong></p>
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On being informed of this, Dyer was convinced that a major revolt and insurrection was imminent and to pre-empt it he had banned gatherings. Many had not known of this ban and thus villagers came together in large groups at the Bagh to celebrate the important Sikh and Hindu festival of Baisakhi. The event was to be used as a platform for a peaceful protest against the arrest and deportation of two leaders of national stature, Satyapal and Saifuddin Kitchlew.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://www.indianarrative.com/upload/news/The_Jalianwala_massacre_memorial.jpg" style="width: 521px; height: 592px;" /></p>
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<em>The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre Memorial</em></p>
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The Bagh near the holy Sikh shrine of Harmandir Sahib was and continues to be an open area of six to seven acres, enclosed on all sides by walls roughly 10 feet in height. There were five narrow entrances opening into it, many with lockable gates.  Interestingly, crops were grown here while it also served a meeting and recreation ground. There was also a cremation site and a big well with abundant water in the Bagh.</p>
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It was during the mid-afternoon, the gathering at the Bagh swelled to thousands as many after offering the Baisakhi prayers at the Harmandir Sahib went there on their way back to home. Also farmers, traders and merchants who had come to attend the annual Baisakhi horse and cattle fair, which was shut down in the afternoon, gathered there.</p>
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What is truly intriguing and mysterious is that neither Dyer nor his Deputy Commissioner Miles Irving, along with Amritsar’s civil authority made any attempt whatsoever to prevent the gathering of the crowd or its peaceful dispersal.</p>
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<strong>The Carnage</strong></p>
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After an hour of the meeting which started at 5.30 p.m. Col. Dyer reached at the Bagh accompanied by 90 soldiers. Drawn from the Gurkha Rifles, the 54th Sikhs and 59th Sind Rifles, 50 of them were armed with .303 Lee-Enfield bolt-action rifles. The main entrance was guarded by troops who were backed by armoured vehicles with machine guns which could not enter the garden because of the narrow entrances.</p>
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In keeping with his intent, which he later specified was “not to disperse the meeting but to punish the Indians for disobedience”, Dyer ordered his men to shoot at the densest sections of the crowd in front of the available narrow exits, through which they wanted to escape.</p>
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Lasting for 10 minutes, the firing stopped only when the ammunition had almost exhausted. By that time 1,650 rounds had been fired!</p>
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<strong>Casualties</strong></p>
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Besides deaths during shooting, many people died in the stampedes at the gates while several died when they jumped into the well to escape firing. Making things worse was the fact that the injured could not be hospitalised due to the curfew. The callousness of the administration was evident as no attempt was made to count the dead and the injured.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://www.indianarrative.com/upload/news/The_martyrs_well_in_Jallianwala_Bagh.jpg" style="width: 994px; height: 745px;" /></p>
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<em>The well in which people jumped to escape firing</em></p>
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According to the independent investigation by Sewa Samiti Society there were 379 deaths, and 192 seriously wounded. The Government of India’s Hunter Commission put the death figure as 379 while the injured as 1500. Among the dead according to Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya investigation included 42 boys with the youngest being just seven-months-old!</p>
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The carnage changed the course of history and became a turning point in India’s freedom movement. The blatant crime showed people the true colours of the British. Mahatma Gandhi a year later launched the biggest mass movement – Non-cooperation Movement — which led to a paradigm shift in the freedom struggle, making it an unstoppable one.</p>
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Dyer was not court martialled and instead barred from employment in India. While some lauded him, there were many, who criticised him led by Winston Churchill in the House of Commons. Retired from the army, Dyer died in 1927 still unrepentant of his actions!</p>