What is it?
- The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre also referred to as the Massacre of Amritsar, took place when British soldiers opened fire on a large gathering of unarmed Indians in the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, shooting several people and wounding many more.
Events
- On 9 April 1919, two local Congress leaders from Amritsar, Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr Satyapal, who were protesting the atrocity, were detained.
- On Baisakhi day, 13 April 1919, a large number of protesters assembled at Jallianwala Bagh to protest without knowing the public gathering was banned.
- Bg. General Reginald Dyer, seeing a large number of protesters, ordered the Gurkha forces to open fire on the nonviolent protesters which resulted in 379 people being killed. The original figures were far higher than those reported.
Reactions
- To condemn the massacre, Rabindranath Tagore resigned his knighthood.
- Gandhi renounced the Kaiser i Hind title.
- The British Indian Government created the Hunter Commission to examine the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.