By; professor Abozar Yousafzai

1. GHADAR MOVEMENT, ROWLATT
ACT AND JALLIANWALA BAGH
MASSACRE
By; Abozar Yousafzai
Whats App; 03352701967

2. BACKGROUND OF THE GHADAR
PARTY
 At the beginning of the 20th century, the burgeoning Indian
Independence Struggle had lead to a rise of nationalist sentiments
not just in the Indian subcontinent but also among students and
emigres around the world belonging to the same region.
 Revolutionary intellectuals like Lala Har Dayal (Born on October 14,
1884) and Taraknath Das attempted to organize these students while
imparting nationalist ideas
 The Ghadar Party, initially named the Pacific Coast Hindustan
Association was formed in was formed on 15 July 1913 in the
United States under the leadership of Lala Har Dayal.
 The Ghadar party found a large support base among Indian
expatriates living in the United States, Canada, East Africa and
Asia.

4. ACTIVITIES OF THE GHADAR PARTY
 Upon the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, some members of the
Ghadar Party arrived in Punjab to foment an armed revolution for the
independence of India. They were also successful in smuggling arms and
inciting the Indian soldiers in the British Army to mutiny.
 The resultant uprising, now known as the Ghadar Mutiny was harshly put
down by the British with 42 mutineers being executed following the
Lahore Conspiracy Case trial. Yet, the Ghadar Party continued their fight
against colonialism from 1914 to 1917, with the support of Imperial
Germany and the Ottoman Empire as both were part of the Central
Powers opposed to the British.
 The party was built around the weekly paper The Ghadar.
 Following the Komagata Maru Incident in 1914, a direct challenge to
Canadian anti-Indian immigration laws, several thousand Indians
resident in the United States sold their business and homes ready to drive
the British from India, bolstering the ranks of the Ghadar Party.

5. Time Line of Events
1904 Indian Immigration to Vancouver, Canada. But faced
racial discrimination there.
Reaction to
racial
discriminatio
n
Tarak Nath Das and G.D Kumar launched News papers ;
Swadesh Sewak and Free Hindustan respectively for the
freedom of India
1910 They both shifted there center from Canada to Seattle,
USA. Due to crackdown of Canadian Government.
1911 Hardayal came to USA. And joined them in struggle of
free India.
1912 Hardayal founded Pacific Coast Hindustan Association.
Which later renamed as Ghadar Party. He started The
Ghadar news paper. This marked the beginning of
Ghadar Moment.
1914 1. Hardayal was arrested later he disassociated himself
from the movement
2. Komagata Maru Incident in which 18 Indian
revolutionary were killed and 202 arrested at the coast
of Calcutta.

6. DEFENCE OF INDIA REGULATIONS ACT
(DIRA) OF 1915

7. LEGACY OF THE GHADAR
MOVEMENT.
 The Ghadar Movement began to lose steam following the heavy-
handed British crackdown. Upon the conclusion of World War I, 1917.
 The Ghadar Party fractured into a Communist and a Socialist
faction.
 Despite this setback, the Ghadar Part was a source of inspiration
for many revolutionaries of the freedom struggle, the most notable
among them being Bhagat Singh.
 The powerful speeches by its leaders did shape the expatriate
opinion against the misrule of British in India.
 It truly qualifies for a major struggle which aroused the people to
fight for freedom and sowed seeds for any other future course of
action.

8. WHAT IS ROWLATT ACT 1919?
Rowlatt Act 1919 is one of the most controversial legislative bills enacted
by the British government to curtail the civil liberties of Indian people in the
early twentieth century. It transformed the Indian national movement and
gave prominence to Mahatma Gandhi. This bill unearthed several protests
across India and also led to the most horrifying event in Indian history: the
Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
The Rowlatt Act or Rowlatt Satyagraha (famously known as the Black Act)
refers to the draconian law passed by the British government on 18 March
1919.
 It is officially called the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act and gave
enormous power to the British government and police to arrest anyone
suspected of seditious activities.
It was meant to replace the emergency law called the Defence of India Act
1915.
 The Black Act was drafted by a committee headed by a British Judge, Sir

10. PROVISIONS OF ROWLATT ACT
1 Stricter control of the Press
2 Arrests without Warrant
3 Indefinite detention without trial
4 Juryless in-Camera Trials for proscribed political Acts
5 The accused were denied the right to know the accusers and the evidence used in
the trial
6 Those convicted were required to deposit securities upon release and were
prohibited from taking part in any political, educational or religious activities.
7 Both bills gave enormous power to the Police to search a place and arrest any
person without warrant.

11. REACTIONS;
1) Muhammad Ali Jinnah; Vehemently Opposed ,when the bill approved on 18th March, 1919, he Resigned
from ILC as a protest along with Madan Mohan Malviya and Mazhar ul Haq
2) All the 23Non-Official Indian Members voted against the Rowlatt Act
3) Sir Mian Muhammad Shafi Wrote dissenting note on the bill.
4) Rabindranath Tagore gave up his knighthood and Gandhiji relinquished his title ‘Kaiser-e-hind’
5) A lot of lawyers boycotted the courts and submitted their resignation.
6) Gandhi launched country-wide protest against the Rowlatt Act on 6th April 1919.
7) The Indians termed it Black law.

13. BACKGROUND OF JALLIANWALA
BAGH MASSACRE
After WW1 Indians were not only denied self rule but Rowlatt Act was also passed to
end revolutionary activities. Gandhi mobilized Indians. Gandhi initiated Rowlatt
Satyagraha in 1919. There was widespread national protest agitation against the
Rowlatt Act. It was mainly confined to the cities. Gandhi wanted this movement to be
non-violent
In Punjab, Two Congress Leader of Amritsar Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew Dr. Satyapal were
arrested.
As a result the people started demanding of their release on 9th April, 1919 . Angry
mob looted the City’s National and Chartered Banks Bank Manager and his Assistant
were killed. The Britishers were afraid of repetition of 1857 scene. So, they had to
take strong action before the situation get worse.
Sir Michael O’Dwyer, Governor of the Punjab had strong hatred for the Indian
educated class. He was against the introduction of Reforms in India and opposed
bitterly the Secretary of the State Edwin Montague. He put Punjab under martial law
which meant that it was unlawful for people to assemble at a place.
10th April, 1919 General Dyer received orders to leave Jalandhar for Amritsar He
reached there with 475 English and 710 Indian Troops and Two Armored Vehicles. He
started persecution of common people and had brutally suppressed the revolt.

14. Sir Michael Francis O'Dwyer
Sir Michael O’Dwyer
Governor of the Punjab
Born
28 April 1864
Barronstown, Limerick Junction,
County Tipperary, Ireland
Died
13 March 1940 (aged 75)
Caxton Hall, Westminster, London,
England
Cause of death Assassination (gunshot wound)
Resting place Brookwood Cemetery
Book
India as I Knew It.
Occupation Colonial Administrator
Sir Michael Francis O'Dwyer was an Irish Indian Civil Service (ICS) officer and later the Lieutenant Governor
of Punjab, British India, between 1913 and 1919. It was during O'Dwyer's tenure as Punjab's Lieutenant
Governor that the Jallianwala Bagh massacre occurred in Amritsar, on 13 April 1919. O'Dwyer endorsed
Reginald Dyer's action at Jallianwala Bagh and made it clear that he felt Dyer's orders to shoot at the
crowds was correct. He subsequently administered martial law in Punjab, on 15 April.and backdated it to
30 March 1919. In retaliation for the massacre, O'Dwyer was assassinated by the Indian revolutionary
Udham Singh.

15. Colonel Reginald Edward
Harry Dyer
Colonel Reginald Edward Harry Dyer
The Butcher of Amritsar
Born
9 October 1864
Murree, Punjab, British India
Died
23 July 1927 (aged 62)
Long Ashton, Somerset,
England
He suffered Paralysis &
speechlessness inflicted by his
strokes. He died of cerebral
hemorrhage and
arteriosclerosis
Years of service 1885–1920
Rank
Colonel (Formal Rank)
Brigadier General (Temporary
Rank

16. THE JALLIANWALA BAGH MASSACRE
(13 APRIL, 1919)
•13 April was the day of Baisakhi which is a very popular festival in Punjab.
•In Jallianwala Bagh, The garden was about 7 acres in area surrounded by walls about 10
feet high.
•which is a public garden enclosed from all sides except its narrow entrance, a group of
Indians had gathered to protest peacefully against the Rowlatt Act and the arrest of their
two leaders. They were unarmed and the crowd consisted of women and children too. The
crowd also had pilgrims who had come to Amritsar to celebrate Baisakhi.
•On getting wind of the impending meeting, Colonel Reginald Dyer, an officer in the British
army, arrived there with his 90 troops at about 4:30 PM. Dyer’s troops closed the main
entrance to the garden. Without warning, he ordered his troops to fire at the crowd of
15,000 to 20,000 people. Shooting continued for ten minutes until the ammunition was
nearly exhausted
•Almost 1,650 rounds were spent. The official figure of the death toll is 379. However, the
actual figure is much higher – between 1000 and 2000 killed and more than 1000 injured.
The dead included children and infants also. Some people also died by jumping into the
lone well that was present to escape the merciless firing. Because of the curfew, the
wounded could not be moved for treatment and many more died in the night on the
grounds of the garden.

17. Amritsar, Punjab, British India
Narrow passage to the
entrance of Jallianwala
Bagh Garden where the
massacre occurred
All native men were
forced to crawl
The Martyrs' Well, at
Jallianwala Bagh. 120
bodies were recovered
from this well as per
inscription on it
Jallianwala Bagh
memorial
Bullet
holes
in
wall
at
Jallianwala
Bagh
memorial.

18. IMPACT OF JALLIANWALA BAGH
MASSACRE
Crowds took to the streets in many north Indian towns, as the news of Jallianwalla Bagh spread.
There were attacks on government buildings, clashes with the police, and strikes.
Mahatma Gandhi called off the movement as he saw the spread of violence. This tragedy came as a
rude shock to Indians and totally destroyed their faith in the British system of justice.
However, Dyer was appreciated by many in Britain. Those who criticized his actions included Winston
Churchill and former Prime Minister H.H Asquith.
The government set up the Hunter Commission to inquire into the massacre. Although the
commission condemned the act by Dyer, it did not impose any disciplinary action against him. He
was relieved of his duties in the army in 1920.
Michael O’Dwyer, the then Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab, who had approved the actions of
Brigadier-General Dyer, was assassinated by Udham Singh in London in 1940 as revenge against
the massacre. Udham Singh is believed to have witnessed the massacre as a child.
On April 10, 2019, the then British Prime Minister Theresa May repeated the “regret” refrain that
British politicians have always done, and fell short of a full apology on the 100th anniversary of the
dastardly incident.