JALLIANWALA BAGH MASSACRE

JALLIANWALA BAGH MASSACRE

13th April 2019 marks the hundredth anniversary of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in Amritsar.

How Events Unfolded

• Both Extremists and the moderate factionof the Indian National Congress supported the British efforts during World War 1 in hope that, British will grant self-government to India after the war.
• The Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms 1919 proved to be a mere eyewash in the name of self-government. Congress said that the reforms are “disappointing” and “unsatisfactory”.
• The government now armed itself with extraordinary powers to suppress any voice against the reforms and passed Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919, popularly known as the Rowlatt Act.

Rowlatt Act

• This act was passed on the recommendations of Sedition Committee chaired by Sir Sidney Rowlatt.
• This act had been hurriedly passed in the Imperial Legislative Council despite the united opposition of the Indian members.
• It gave the government enormous powers to repress political activities and allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two years.

Impact Of World War I On India

Response to Gandhi's Call

• Mahatma Gandhi wanted non-violent civil disobedience against such unjust laws,which would start with a hartal on 6 April 1919.
• But before it could be launched, there were large-scale violent, anti-British demonstrations in Calcutta, Bombay, Delhi, Ahmedabad, etc. '
• Especially in Punjab, the situation became explosive due to wartime repression,forcible recruitments, and ravages of disease.
• In towns across North and West India, life came to a standstill, as shops shut down and schools closed in response to the bandh call.
• During the intense anti-British demonstrations, Punjab also witnessed the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

• On April 9, 1919, two nationalist leaders, Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satyapal, were arrested by the British officials without any provocation except that they had addressed protest meetings, and taken to some unknown destination.
• This caused resentment among the Indian protestors who came out in thousands on April 10 to show their solidarity with their leaders.
• Soon the protests turned violent because the police resorted to firing in which some of the protestors were killed. To curb any future protest government put martial law in place and law and order in Punjab was handed over to Brigadier-General Dyer.
• On 13th April, Baisakhi day, a large crowd of people mostly from neighboring villages, unaware of the prohibitory orders in the Amritsar gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh.
• Brigadier- General Dyer arrived on the scene with his men. The troops surrounded the gathering under orders from General Dyer and blocked the only exit point and opened fire on the unarmed crowd killing more than 1000 unarmed men, women, and children.

Hunter Commission

• The government formed a committee of inquiry to investigate the Jallianwala Bagh shootings.
• On October 14, 1919, the Government of India announced the formation of theDisorders Inquiry Committee.
• The committee was commonly known as Hunter Commission after the name of chairman, Lord William Hunter. It also had Indian members.
• In the final report submitted in March 1920, the committee unanimously condemned Dyer’s actions.
• However, the Hunter Committee did not impose any penal or disciplinary action against General Dyer.

Nationalist Response

• Rabindranath Tagore renounced his knighthood in protest.
• Mahatma Gandhi gave up the title of Kaiser-i-Hind, bestowed by the British for his work during the Boer War.
• Gandhi was overwhelmed by the atmosphere of total violence and withdrew the movement on April 18, 1919.
• Gandhi was initially hesitant to act, but he soon began organizing his first large-scale and sustained nonviolent protest (satyagraha) campaign, the non-cooperation movement(1920–22), which thrust him to prominence in the Indian nationalist struggle.
• The Indian National Congress appointed its own non-official committee that included Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das, Abbas Tyabji, M.R. Jayakar, and Gandhi to look into the shootings.
  • Congress put forward its own view. This view criticized Dyer’s act as inhuman and also said that there was no justification in the introduction of the martial law in Punjab.

Britain expressed deeply regret for the incident:

British Prime Minister Theresa May expressed “regret” in Parliament for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, ahead of the 100th anniversary of the killings on April 13.

Opening the Prime Minister’s Questions with a reference to the massacre, Ms. May quoted Queen Elizabeth’s remarks, calling the incident a “distressing example” of Britain’s past history with India.

“We deeply regret what happened and the suffering caused,” Ms. May said.

In Recent Past, Canada Apologised for 1914 Komagata Maru Incident:

While it is still uncertain whether the Britishers would act contrite for the excesses committed by them, Canada apologised for the 1914 Komagata Maru incident.

In Komagata Maru incident, hundreds of Hindu, Sikh and Muslim immigrants were denied entry into that country and turned away from the port of Vancouver to return to an uncertain and ultimately violent fate in India.

In May 2016, almost 102 years after Canada turned away over 376 migrants, mostly Sikhs from India, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau formally apologised in Parliament for the “great injustice” that had happened due to discriminatory laws of the time.

Trudeau apologised in the House of Commons for the 1914 decision by the then Canadian government to turn away the migrants onboard the ship Komagata Maru after their arrival in Vancouver.

Komagata Maru sailed into Vancouver harbour on May 23, 1914 from Hong Kong, but most of the passengers were eventually turned away on the grounds of the “continuous journey clause” that allowed only travellers on a trip without interruption to land in Canada.

Way Forward:

Relations between the U.K. and India today are friendly and constructive. Yet, that does not mean that an apology would not do good.

We cannot turn back or erase the past, but we can take steps to recognise what happened and to respond in a way that befits a modern relationship between two countries which today enjoy normal and positive diplomatic relations.

The need for the world community to come together to promote everlasting peace in all the corners of the globe and ensure that sustainable development of the planet becomes the watchword at all times and at all levels from schools to summits of global leaders.

Conclusion:

Jallianwala Bagh was a reminder to each one of us as to how hard won & precious our freedom is.

It was an occasion to shed a silent tear for each of the innocent Indians who lost their lives that Baisakhi day in 1919 and a poignant moment of reflection on colonial cruelty & irrational anger.

The Vice President of India expressed hope that this day would inspires us to strive to create a world without oppression & persecution, a world of friendship, peace & progress, a world where all nations stand united to defeat inhuman forces of terror & violence.

It is a day to reaffirm India’s centuries long commitment to the ideal of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.