Jallianwala
Bagh Massacre, 1919:
British
Imperialism- Red in Tooth and Claw
A House with a History
Our taxi
driver knew where DC (Deputy Commissioner) Amritsar’s office was, but not where
he lived. Not to worry, he said, I would use Google Map. Near Customs Chowk, he
turned onto Maqbool Road, and easily spotted the gated mansion.
Stepping
onto the spacious veranda of the huge bungalow, I observed, more as an aside to
myself than to my friend, ‘A colonial house, Victorian architecture!’ We were ushered
into the large drawing room where the sofas had been placed across the
fireplace no longer in use but serving to remind the ancestry of the building.
In the past, this hall had possibly hosted larger gatherings including ball
dance parties.
Our host-
the young Deputy Commissioner was joined by his spouse, and briefly by his two
little daughters. DC had returned from a long day at work, and mercifully, had
no other pressing engagement for the evening. His spouse, an All-India Service
officer, worked at Chandigarh and the girls went to school there; they had
joined him for the weekend. My friend knew the DC from the latter’s recent
posting at Jalandhar. Over hot samosha, dhokla, and tea; we had a relaxed chat
on diverse matters. Even though Granth Sahib is venerated as the Last Guru, why
do the deras, new Babas, and Gurus have such immense following in Punjab, so
much so that even convicted and jailed Babas are periodically released on
parole, I asked, with a disclaimer that I meant no offence whatsoever, and
people were free to choose new gurus if they so liked.
As we got up
to leave, I asked, ‘How old is this building?’
‘One hundred
and sixty-one years. Built in 1863 at a cost of one lakh rupees, a huge amount
at that time,’ said the DC.
‘That makes
it a heritage building,’ I observed.
‘Yes, it is.
This has been the Deputy Commissioner’s residence since then, though the first
DC took charge in 1849.’
As we came
out to the veranda, he pointed to the residential office room at the far end to
the right. ‘That is where the DC briefly met Dr Satyapal and Dr Saifuddin
Kitchlew on 10 April 1919, announced their arrest and despatched them forthwith
to Dharamshala, the farthest corner of the Punjab province, two hundred
kilometres away, where they would be under house arrest and denied
communication with their followers at Amritsar, or anyone else. Jallianwala
massacre of 13 April 1919 was an aftermath of that ill-advised arrest here.’
Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
Reginald
Edward H. Dyer, recently promoted as Brigadier General on ad hoc basis, was
posted at Jalandhar. After the firing and subsequent rioting at Amritsar on 10
April, 1919; on oral orders from O’Dwyer, Lieutenant Governor, Punjab, Dyer reached
Amritsar.
In the
morning of 13 April, the day of Baisakhi festival, Dyer and Irving (DC) had
announced prohibition of assembly in public places; army pickets had been
deployed at all key locations in the city, but no attempt had been made to
prevent people from gathering in the afternoon at Jallianwala Bagh, which
incidentally was a private property owned by Himmat Singh Jallewala, and not a public
place per se.
Among the
gathering were people demanding the release of Dr Satyapal and Kitchlew, and
condemning the 10 April firing upon a delegation resulting in several casualties.
Without any
warning to the crowd to disperse, blocking the main entrance, and preventing
people to escape through other narrow exits; Dyer ordered his armed men- 25
Gurkhas and 25 Baluchis- to open fire who fired 1650 rounds.
Jallianwala
Bagh Memorial lists names of 492 martyrs who were killed here on that fateful
day. Several thousand were injured.
(Image Source: amritsar.nic.in)
In an
interview much later, Dyer had said that he would have used the two machine
guns which were available; however, the narrow access lane prevented entry of
the armoured vehicles carrying the machine guns; or else the death toll would
have been much higher.
How Many People Died?
It is impossible
to tell how many people died and how many were injured. After the firing, Dyer
left the scene, and no district or health official visited the place to count
the dead and provide medical help to the wounded. Many who were severely injured
crawled outside and were later found dead on the street from excess bleeding. The
authorities obtained from the private doctors the names of the injured persons
they had treated, and all such persons were prosecuted as secessionists. Families
of the dead and the wounded chose to suffer in silence owing to the unprecedented
reign of terror that was unleashed and continued for several months. Hunter
Committee Report was based on official records and witnesses. Thus, the real
facts about the Amritsar massacre were never revealed by the imperial regime.
Jawaharlal Nehru,
in his autobiography mentions “… the massacre of Jallianwala Bagh, the long
horror and terrible indignity of martial law in the Punjab. Punjab was
isolated, cut off from the rest of India; a thick veil seemed to cover it and
hide it from outside eyes. There was hardly any news, and people could not go
there or come out from there.”[i]
Deshbandhu
C.R. Das and Nehru visited Jallianwala Bagh and the ‘terrible lane,’ and recorded
eye-witness statements for the Congress Inquiry Committee.
According to
Kishwar Desai, “history belongs primarily to the victor, but only as long as we
allow it. The truth cannot remain hidden for all time.”[ii]
Inquiry Committees and Reports
Dyer
submitted his report on August 25! Several months after the massacre, Disorders
Inquiry Committee (DIC)[iii]
headed by Lord Hunter was constituted in October 1919. DIC, in its Majority
Report signed by the British members had criticized General Dyer for excessive
use of force, but justified imposition of Martial Law, and exonerated al other
officials of any misdemeanour. The Minority Report, submitted by the Indian
members, condemned the massacre, and recommended action against Dyer and other officers.[iv]
Indian
National Congress boycotted the Hunter Committee, and conducted its own inquiry
into the incident. The Sub-Committee was led by Motilal Nehru, and included C.R.
Das, Sarojin Naidu, and M.K. Gandhi.
Following
censure by the House of Commons, General Dyer was persuaded to resign from the
Army, but suffered no other adverse consequence. Till his death in London in
1927, he was unrepentant.
Jallianwala
Bagh Memorial, a sculpture in white marble, at the entry gate to the
Jallianwala Bagh Museum, and a few metres from the Golden temple, is a stark
and sad reminder of that tragic day in the history of Punjab, India, and the
sub-continent.
On 13 March
1940 at Caxton Hall in London, Udham Singh assassinated Sir Michael O'Dwyer,
the former Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, who had ordered arrest and
deportation of Dr Satyapal and Dr Kitchlew, had imposed Martial Law in Punjab
on 15 April 1919, and had also justified the massacre.
Amritsar’s Street for Torture
If you
visited Amritsar recently, you might have paid obeisance to Guru Granth Sahib
at the Golden Temple; honoured the martyrs at the renovated Jallianwala Bagh
Memorial; and vicariously suffered the trauma of Partition at the Partition
Museum; but even if you are a resident of Amritsar, you may not have been to
Gali Kaurianwala, also called Kutcha Kurichan- the street whose innocent residents
and visitors including senior citizens, disabled persons, women and children were
punished and humiliated through the inhuman ‘crawling order’ by R.E.H. Dyer
after he perpetrated the massacre of a thousand or more unarmed and peaceful persons
at Jallianwala Bagh on 13 April 1919.
The Crawling Order
The
'crawling order' was imposed on the lane where Marcella Sherwood, the
Superintendent of the Amritsar Mission School, had been attacked on 10 April. She
was badly hurt, but survived.
“Unfortunately,
he chose to apply the punishment to all those who passed through Gali
Kaurianwala (Kucha Kuricchan, also spelt as Kutcha Kurichan). The street where
the incident had taken place was around 150 yards long. Anyone who passed
through it was forced to crawl; Dyer said that the site of the assault was to
be seen as 'holy ground'.” (K. Desai)
Dyer posted
pickets on both sides of the street from 6 am to 10 pm. Anyone who wished to go
into the street or out of it had to go on all fours. He said, 'It could not be
helped if they had to suffer a slight amount of inconvenience.' (K. Desai)
Despite the
cold-blooded massacre and the cruelty thereafter, Dyer was praised by the House
of Lords; presented with a jewelled sword by the British community in India;
and the British public, through a campaign led by the conservative newspaper ‘Morning
Post’, raised for him £26,000 - a substantial sum at the time, and approximately
£1,682,444 in current prices; confirming that the heinous massacre was not the
isolated act of a deranged psychopath, but typical imperial strategy to terrorise
and coerce the ‘subjects’ through the naked use of fire power.
Citizens of Gujranwala
(now in Pakistan) had been bombed by aircrafts. Aircrafts were also sent to bomb
Amritsar citizens, if needed. Which other country has bombed its own citizens?
Regret, but No Apology!
During her
visit in 1997, Queen Elizabeth laid a wreath at the Jallianwala Bagh memorial
and described the massacre as a “distressing” episode in history.
David
Cameron, PM of UK, during his visit to Amritsar in 2013, described the massacre
as a “deeply shameful event in British history” and paid his respects at the
Jallianwala Bagh memorial. However, he stopped short of a formal apology.
“When Queen
Elizabeth visited the Jallianwala Bagh in 1997, followed by Prime Minister
David Cameron in 2013, an actual apology was on both occasions studiously
avoided.”[v]
Theresa May,
PM of UK, in 2019, on the 100th anniversary of the massacre, referred to it as
a “shameful scar on British Indian history” and expressed deep regret for the
suffering caused. Like Cameron, she did not issue a formal apology.
Rishi Sunak
(of Punjabi origin) during his tenure as PM of UK visited India, but not Amritsar, and he had
nothing to say about the Jallianwala massacre.
The British
government has issued formal apology and reparations for Mau Mau massacre, and
apology for Australia’s ‘stolen’ generation!
Some people
suggest that it is pointless to claim victimhood and seek apology, and it is
best to work for the present and look to the future instead of being prisoners
of the past. That line of reasoning is valid provided the British stop gloating
over the ‘white man’s burden,’ and the ‘civilisational’ impact of their
colonial empire. The Empire did
everything in its power to plunder India, humiliate and denigrate the ‘subjects,’
and degrade and weaken a great civilisation.
“The
atrocities perpetuated at Amritsar have proved that Imperialism run mad is more
dangerous, more vindictive, more inhuman, than a frenzied uncontrollable mob.”[vi]
-Lala Lajpat
Rai, 5 June 1920
Gandhi and Amritsar
Gandhi had
suggested Satyagraha to protest the draconian Rowlatt Act, and the Satyagraha
Pledge was drafted at Sabarmati Ashram where Vallabh Bhai Patel, Sarojini
Naidu, and others were with Gandhi. Satyagraha Sabha was constituted with
headquarters at Bombay and Gandhi as its President, and Gandhi insisted on
conducting all meetings in Gujarati only; maybe he was then sceptical about
support for Satyagraha all over the country. At Madras upon invitation from
Kasturi Ranga Iyengar and Rajagopalachari, Gandhi issued appeal for a
country-wide hartal on March 30, 1919 which he later changed to 6 April.
The hartal
was a huge success across the country, though there was violence in Delhi,
Lahore, and Ahmedabad which Gandhi condemned. Notably, there was no violence at
Amritsar prior to the sudden and secret arrest of Dr Satyapal and Dr Kitchlew
on April 10.
While Gandhi
was on the train to Delhi and Amritsar, he was served an order prohibiting him
from entering the border of the Punjab province. He was arrested at Palwal
station, and sent back to Bombay.
INC Committee
For an
independent inquiry into the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, the Indian National
Congress formed a committee which included Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das, Abbas
Tyabji, M.R. Jayakar, and M.K. Gandhi.[vii]
The Amritsar
massacre was an epoch-making event that changed Gandhi’s view of British
imperialism, and put him in the leadership role to steer the Congress and the
country in the freedom struggle.
“I must
regard my participation in Congress proceedings at Amritsar as my real entrance
into the Congress politics.”[viii]
-
M.K.
Gandhi
The 34th
Annual Session of the Indian National Congress was held at Amritsar during 27
December 1919 to 1 January 1920.
Quick Recap: Q & A
Q: Who
ordered the firing at Jallianwala Bagh- Dyer or Dwyer?
A: R.E.H. Dyer.
Michael O’Dwyer, was Lieutenant Governor of Punjab and located at Lahore. Udham
Singh assassinated O’Dwyer, not Dyer.
This is a
common confusion owing to the similar names. Even the Punjab government portal (https://amritsar.nic.in/tourist-place/jallian-wala-bagh/)
reflects this popular confusion:
“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.”
I have
requested DC, Amritsar to correct the mistake.
Q: What is
the correct rank of R.E.H. Dyer- General, Brigadier General, or Colonel?
A: Colonel.
He had been promoted on ad hoc basis as Brigadier General, but lost the rank
upon resigning after censure by the House of Commons. He was never a General!
Q: Who
decided to arrest Dr Satyapal and Dr Kitchlew?
A: O’Dwyer,
on the oral advice of Mr. Smith, Civil Surgeon, Amritsar. Miles Irving, DC,
Amritsar merely implemented the order.
Q: When was
Martial Law imposed in Amritsar and the Punjab Province?
A: On 15
April, 1919; i.e. two days after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
Q: Since Amritsar
was under civil administration till 15 April, should not DC, Amritsar have
decided regarding the firing, and how much force to use on 13 April?
A: Yes. Sadly,
Miles Irving, DC, simply abdicated his authority; and Dyer took charge without
any legal order. Mr. Kitchin, Commissioner, Punjab was interrogated on this
issue by the Hunter Committee. Under which Act or Order was Dyer authorised to
assume charge and order firing, he was asked? He had no answer.
Q: Why didn’t
the wounded seek medical help at the Civil Hospital?
A: Mr. Smith,
Civil Surgeon, refused medical help to the few who had reached the hospital,
calling them ‘rabid dogs.’
Resources & References
· Jallianwala Bagh, 1919: The Real
Story by Kishwar
Desai
· Jallianwala Bagh: An Empire of Fear
and the Making of the Amritsar Massacre by Kim A .Wagner
· Hunter Committee Reports
· Indian National Congress Inquiry
Report
· The Story of My Experiments With
Truth: An Autobiography by M.K. Gandhi
· CoPilot
[ii] Jallianwala Bagh, 1919: The Real Story by Kishwar
Desai
[iii] The Disorders Inquiry Committee, also known as the
Hunter Committee, was established by the British government to investigate the
Jallianwala Bagh massacre and the subsequent disturbances. The committee
consisted of seven members:
British Members
1. Lord William Hunter (Chairman) - Former
Solicitor-General and Senator of the College of Justice in Scotland
2. W.F. Rice - Additional Secretary
3. Major General Sir George Barrow -
Commandant of the Peshawar Division
4. Justice G.C. Rankin - Judge of the
Calcutta High Court
Indian Members
1. Sir Chimanlal Harilal Setalvad
2. Pandit Jagat Narayan
3. Sardar Sahibzada Sultan Ahmad Khan
This committee’s
findings and the subsequent reactions played a significant role in the Indian
independence movement.
[iv] Gist of the Reports
Majority Report (Hunter
Committee) submitted by the four British members
• Condemned General Dyer’s actions: The report criticized
General Dyer for his excessive use of force and lack of warning before opening
fire on the unarmed crowd.
• Justified Martial Law: While condemning the massacre, the
report justified the imposition of martial law in Punjab, citing the need to
maintain order.
• No Severe Punishment for Dyer: The report did not recommend
severe punishment for General Dyer, which led to widespread dissatisfaction
among Indians.
Minority Report
The Minority Report was
prepared by the three Indian members of the Hunter Committee who disagreed with
some of the conclusions of the Majority Report. The Minority Report:
• Strongly Condemned Dyer: It unequivocally condemned General
Dyer’s actions as inhumane and unjustifiable.
• Criticized British Policies: The report criticized the
broader policies of the British government in India, particularly the
repressive measures that led to the unrest.
• Called for Accountability: It called for holding General Dyer
and other officials accountable for their actions.
Signatories to the
Minority Report
These reports
highlighted the deep divisions between the British and Indian perspectives on
the events at Jallianwala Bagh and played a significant role in galvanizing the
Indian independence movement.
[v] Jallianwala Bagh: An Empire of Fear and the Making of
the Amritsar Massacre by Kim A .Wagner
[vi] Jallianwala Bagh, 1919: The Real Story by Kishwar
Desai
[vii] Congress Punjab Inquiry Report provided a detailed
and critical examination of the events and the actions of the British
authorities. Here are the key findings:
1. Condemnation of
General Dyer: The report strongly condemned General Dyer's actions, describing
them as brutal and inhumane. It highlighted the excessive use of force against
unarmed civilians.
2. Criticism of Martial
Law: The imposition of martial law in Punjab was criticized for its harshness
and the arbitrary powers it granted to the authorities.
3. Eyewitness Accounts:
The report included numerous eyewitness testimonies that detailed the horrors
of the massacre and the suffering of the victims.
4. Call for
Accountability: It called for holding General Dyer and other responsible
officials accountable for their actions.
5. Impact on Public
Sentiment: The report emphasized the deep impact of the massacre on Indian
public sentiment, leading to widespread outrage and a loss of faith in British
rule.
Signatories
The report was signed by
the members of the Congress Committee who conducted the inquiry:
1. Motilal Nehru
2. C.R. Das
3. Abbas Tyabji
4. M.R. Jayakar
5. Mahatma Gandhi
This report played a
significant role in galvanizing the Indian independence movement and
highlighting the need for self-rule.
[viii] The Story of My Experiments With Truth: An
Autobiography by M.K. Gandhi
