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The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the '''Amritsar massacre''', was named after the Jallianwala Bagh (Garden) in Amritsar , where, on April 13 , 1919 , British Indian Army soldiers opened fire on an unarmed gathering of men, women and children. Official sources place the casualties at 379. According to private sources, the number was over 1000, with more than 1200 wounded Home Political Deposit, September, 1920, No 23, National Archives of India, New Delhi; Report of Commissioners, Vol I, New Delhi, and Civil Surgeon Dr Smith indicated that they were over 1800 Report of Commissioners, Vol I, New Delhi, p 105. The figures were never fully ascertained for political reasons. BACKGROUND The year 1919 saw mass protests instigated by the Indian National Congress and others across the subcontinent. The main antagonising factors were the Rowlatt Acts , the effects of the First World War upon India, and bad economic conditions. Whilst the educated middle class members of the Congress understood the peaceful methods espoused by Mohandas Gandhi , called Satyagraha or 'truth force', many of those who protested did not. On the first day of marches, April 6 , a Hartal was observed in many places in India. Growing tension in the Punjab led the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir attacks on and looting of British banks, Government offices, and private property (these occurred, however, under the watch of Kotwali). Some policemen were later apprehended in possession of property stolen from the banks See: Report of Commissioners, p 49. This infuriated the administration and Mr Seymour, a senior British official, is reported to have stated that 'for single European life, a thousand Indians would be killed' Report of Commissioners, p 7. O'Dwyer meanwhile had placed a call to Simla and outlined the situation to the Indian Government. The response was that if the troops were forced to open fire, 'they should make an example'. O'Dwyer carefully wrote this in his personal diary The Massacre that Ended the Raj, London, 1981, p 78, Alfred Draper. A high-level meeting was held in Government House, Lahore, where a plan is said to have been formulated by O'Dwyer, the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, and other top British civil and military officials. Lieutenant Colonel Smith was also present Massacre that ended the Raj, 1981, p 203, Alfred Draper; See also: A Pre-Meditated Plan of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre and the Oath of Revenge, Udham Singh alias Ram Mohammad Singh Azaad, 2002, p 133, Prof (Dr) Sikander Singh. The secret, unofficial meeting was conducted by O'Dwyer and all orders were issued verbally Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, A Premaditated Plan, Punjab University Chandigarh, 1969, p 24, Raja Ram; op cit p 133, Prof Sikander Singh. Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer was to carry out the plan to avenge the five British deaths and 'teach Indians the lesson that revolution was a dangerous game' op cit., Raja Ram, p 24. Miles Irving, Deputy Commissioner of the District of Amritsar, handed over charge of the city of Amritsar to the military on 11 April . Brigadier-General Dyer, whose 45th Brigade was based in neighbouring Jullundur and whose area of responsibility included Amritsar, arrived in the city by 9 p.m. on April 11 to take command. (Dyer's rank was non-substantive, only a temporary rank, held because he was commanding 45 Brigade at Jullundur .) He found that instructions had already been given that 'No gatherings of persons nor processions of any sort will be allowed. All gatherings will be fired on'. It is notable in this regard that Martial Law had not yet been declared in the city. General Dyer subsequently issued a proclamation on 12 April declaring that 'all meetings and gatherings' were forbidden. THE GATHERING On April 13 , thousands of Punjabi Indian s gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh in the heart of Amritsar, one of the major cultural, religious and commercial towns of Punjab state. The occasion was Baisakhi Day, a Sikh religious day. A tradition had been established for Sikhs to gather in Amritsar to participate in the Baisakhi festival. Those coming from the rural areas of Amritsar District were unaware of the events in Amritsar as communications were inadequate and highly underdeveloped in Punjab. According to the legal niceties the gathering in the Bagh was ''in violation'' of the prohibitory orders banning gatherings of five or more persons in the city, a term of Martial Law . THE MASSACRE A band of 90 soldiers armed with rifles and Kukri s marched to the park accompanied by two Armoured Cars on which Machine Guns were mounted. The vehicles were unable to enter the Bagh through the narrow entrance. The troops were commanded by Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer who, immediately upon entering the Bagh and without the slightest warning to the crowd to disperse, ordered his troops to open fire, concentrating especially on the areas where the crowd was thickest. The firing started at 17:15 and lasted for about ten to fifteen minutes. The Bagh, or garden, was bounded on all sides by brick walls and buildings and had only 5 narrow entrances, most of which were kept permanently locked. Since there was only one exit except for the one already manned by the troops, people desperately tried to climb the walls of the park. Some also jumped into a well inside the compound to escape the bullets. A plaque in the monument says that 120 bodies were plucked out of the well alone. ]] After the firing was over, hundreds of people had been killed and thousands had been injured. Official estimates put the figures at 379 killed (337 men, 41 boys and a six week old baby) and 200 injured, though the actual figure was almost certainly much higher (see above); the wounded could not be moved from where they had fallen, as a curfew had been declared. Debate about the actual figures continues to this day. Back in his headquarters Dyer reported to his superiors that he had been ''confronted by a revolutionary army'', and had been obliged ''to teach a moral lesson to the Punjab''. In a telegram sent to Dyer, British Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab, Sir Michael O'Dwyer wrote: ''"Your action is correct. Lieutenant Governor approves"'' Disorder Inquiry Committe Report, Vol II, p 197. O'Dwyer requested that Martial Law be imposed upon Amritsar and other areas; this was granted by the Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford , after the massacre. Dyer was called to appear before the Hunter Commission, a commission of inquiry into the massacre that was ordered to convene by Secretary Of State For India Edwin Montagu , in late 1919. Dyer admitted before the commission that he came to know about the meeting at the Jallianwala Bagh at 12:40 hours that day but took no steps to prevent it. He stated that he had gone to the Bagh with the deliberate intention of opening fire if he found a crowd assembled there. ''"I think it quite possible that I could have dispersed the crowd without firing but they would have come back again and laughed, and I would have made, what I consider, a fool of myself."'' — Dyer's response to the Hunter Commission Enquiry. Dyer said he would have used his machine guns if he could have got them ''into the enclosure'', but these were mounted on armoured cars. He said he did not stop firing when the crowd began to disperse because he thought it was his duty to keep firing until the crowd dispersed, and that a little firing would do no good. He confessed that he did not take any steps to tend to the wounded after the firing. ''Certainly not. It was not my job. Hospitals were open and they could have gone there,'' was his response. REACTION In the storm of outrage which followed the release of the Hunter Report in 1920 , Dyer was placed on the inactive list and his rank reverted to Colonel since he was no longer in command of a Brigade. The then Commander-in-Chief stated that Dyer would no longer be offered employment in India. Dyer was in poor health and so was sent home to England on a Hospital Ship . Some senior British officers and many civilians in India applauded his suppression of 'another Indian Mutiny'. The and resigned in 1920. The Morning Post started a sympathy fund for Dyer and received over £26,000. Dyer was presented with a memorial book inscribed with the names of wellwishers. In India the massacre evoked feelings of deep anguish and anger. It catalysed the freedom movement in the Punjab against British rule and paved the way for Mohandas Gandhi 's '' Non-Cooperation Movement '' against the British in 1920. The Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore returned his knighthood to the King-Emperor in protest. The massacre became an important catalyst of the Indian Independence Movement . MONUMENT AND LEGACY A trust was formed in 1920 to build a memorial at the site following a resolution passed by the Indian National Congress . In 1923 the trust purchased land for the project. A memorial was built on the site and inaugurated by the then-President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad on 13 April 1961 in the presence of Jawaharlal Nehru and other leaders. A flame was later added to the site. The bullet holes can be seen on the walls and adjoining buildings to this day. The well into which many people jumped and drowned attempting to save themselves from the hail of bullets is also a protected monument inside the park. The massacre is depicted in Richard Attenborough 's 1982 Film '' Gandhi '' with the role of General Dyer played by Edward Fox . It is also depicted in the Indian film Rang De Basanti . In 1997 , the Duke Of Edinburgh , participating in an already controversial British visit to the Amritsar monument, provoked considerable outrage in India and in the UK with an offhand comment. Having observed a plaque claiming 2,000 casualties, Prince Philip observed, "That's not right. The number is less." REVENGE FOR JALLIANWALA BAGH On 13 March 1940 a Sikh revolutionary from Sunam, named Udham Singh , who had witnessed the events in Amritsar and was himself wounded, shot dead Sir Michael O'Dwyer , believed to be the chief planner of the massacre (Dyer having died years earlier) at the Caxton Hall in London. The action of Singh was generally condemned by after two centuries of rule. Similar comment may be made on British rule in India. Will the historians of the future have to record that it was not the Nazis but the British ruling class which destroyed the British Empire?"''. Singh had told the court at his trial: ''"I did it because I had a grudge against him. He deserved it. He was the real culprit. He wanted to crush the spirit of my people, so I have crushed (''sic'') him. For full 21 years, I have been trying to wreak vengence. I am happy that I have done the job. I am not scared of death. I am dying for my country. I have seen my people starving in India under the British rule. I have protested against this, it was my duty. What a greater honor could be bestowed on me than death for the sake of my motherland "'' CRIM 1/1177, Public Record Office, London, p 64. Singh was hanged for the murder on July 31, 1940. had condemned the action of Udham as senseless. REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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