The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre holds a very important place in India's struggle for Freedom .It not only triggered protests across the country but also led to the start of the Non Cooperation Movement

1. The Jallianwala Bagh
Massacre
Overview, Insights and Consequences
Dr.Monica Sharma

2. Overview about the incident
Also known as the massacre of Amritsar, the incident took place on 13th of April 1919, in
which British troops fired on a large crowd of unarmed Indians in an open space known as the
Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar in the Punjab region of India
More than 379 people were killed.They had gathered on the occasion of Baisakhi and to
protest against the arrest of the two national leaders- Satya Pal and Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew.
The incident was carried out by Brig. Gen. Reginald Edward Harry Dyer commanding his
troops to open fire at the gathering.
It was the trigger that activated Indian nationalism.It marked a turning point in India’s
modern history, in that it left a permanent scar on Indo-British relations and was the prelude
to Mahatma Gandhi’s full commitment to the cause of Indian nationalism and independence
from Britain.

3. Back drop
✣ During World War I (1914–18) the British government of India
enacted a series of repressive emergency powers that were
intended to combat subversive activities. By the war’s end,
expectations were high among the Indian populace that those
measures would be eased and that India would be given more
political autonomy.
✣ Instead, however, the Government of India passed what became
known as the Rowlatt Acts in early 1919, which essentially
extended the repressive wartime measures.
✣ The acts were met by widespread anger and discontent among
Indians, notably in the Punjab region. Gandhi in early April
called for a one-day general strike throughout the country

4. Simmering Amritsar
✣ Undivided Punjab had contributed a great number of soldiers to the colonial
government’s war effort — 3,55,000 combatants over four years of conflict.
✣ After the war in 1919 a large number of demobilised soldiers from various
fronts in Europe returned to unemployment
✣ Early in April 1919 news of the arrest of Indian nationalist leaders in the Sikh
holy city of Amritsar sparked riots in which a mob went on the rampage,
killing several Europeans, leaving an English female missionary for dead, and
looting numerous banks and public buildings.
✣ British and Indian troops under the command of Brigadier-General Reginald
Dyer were sent to restore order.
✣ Dyer banned all public meetings which, he announced, would be dispersed
by force if necessary.

5. Insights of the incident
Soon after Dyer’s arrival, on the afternoon of April 13, 1919, some 10,000 or more unarmed
men, women, and children gathered in Amritsar’s Jallianwala Bagh despite a ban on public
assemblies.
It was a Sunday, and many neighboring village peasants had also come to Amritsar to celebrate
the spring Baisakhi festival and to protest against the arrest of two national leaders Satya Pal
and Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew.
Dyer positioned his men at the sole, narrow passageway of the Bagh, which was otherwise
entirely enclosed by the backs of abutted brick buildings.
A force of 90 Gurkha and Indian soldiers into the enclosure and, without warning, they opened
fire for about 10 to 15 minutes on the panicking crowd trapped in the enclosure.

6. According to official estimates, nearly 400 civilians were killed, and another 1,200 were left
wounded with no medical attention.
Dyer, who argued that his action was necessary to produce a “moral and widespread effect,”
admitted that the firing would have continued had more ammunition been available.

7. Narrow Entrance into the
Park

8. Artistic representation of the Jallianwala
Bagh Massacre
Brig. Gen. Reginald Edward
Harry Dyer
Present Day Jallianwala
Bagh Memorial

9. Consequences of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
The shooting was followed by the proclamation of martial law in the Punjab that included
public floggings and other humiliations.
Indian outrage grew as news of the shooting and subsequent British actions spread throughout
the subcontinent.
The Bengali poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore renounced the knighthood that he
had received in 1915.
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.

10. The government of India ordered an investigation of the incident known as the Hunter
Commission, which in 1920 criticising Dyer for his actions and ordered him to resign from the
military.
However, reaction in Britain to the massacre was mixed.
Many condemned Dyer’s actions including Sir Winston Churchill (then secretary of war) in
his speech to the House of Commons in 1920.
But the House of Lords praised Dyer and gave him a sword inscribed with the motto “Saviour
of the Punjab.”
In addition, a large fund was raised by Dyer’s sympathizers and presented to him.

11. General Dyer
✣ Dyer was commissioned in the West Surrey Regiment in 1885 and
subsequently transferred to the Indian Army
✣ He was brigade commander at Jalandhar, southeast of Amritsar, in early
1919.
✣ Following the outbreak of rioting and violence in Amritsar in April—which
included the killing of four Europeans and the beating of a woman
missionary—he moved his troops to that city to restore order there.
✣ On April 13 Dyer’s troops confronted a gathering of thousands of Indians
in an enclosed area in the city, and he ordered them to open fire.
✣ . As a result, Dyer was removed from command into enforced retirement.
The matter received international attention, and Indian nationalists turned
the site into a martyrs’ memorial.

12. Hunter Commission
✣ On 14 October 1919, after orders issued by the Secretary of State for India,
Edwin Montagu, the Government of India announced the formation of
a committee of inquiry into the events in Punjab. Referred to as the
Disorders Inquiry Committee, it was later more widely known as
the Hunter Commission.
✣ The investigating committee was led by Lord William Hunter. The
commission was formed on 29th October 1919. It convened in November
and took testimony over a period of 46 days
✣ In the Hunter Commission inquiry , Dyer’s gave the testimony that he
could have dispersed the crowd without firing, but chose not to do so
because “they would have come back and laughed”. He said he would have
used machine guns to kill even more if he could have, and that he saw no
reason to help the wounded.

13. Dyers and Mohan Meakin Brewery
✣ Edward Dyer opened a brewery at Kasauli in 1855 and a distillery at Solan. It
marked the advent of industrialization in the region and was the first brewery
to be set up in Asia. Another entrepreneur, HG Meakin, coming from a well-
known brewing family of Burton-on-Trent, founded Meakin & Co. Ltd. They
joined hands to form Dyer Meakin & Co Ltd.
✣ The brewery was soon moved to nearby Solan, close to the British summer
capital Shimla as there was an abundant supply of fresh spring water there
✣ With the country attaining Independence, the British owners were looking for
a buyer it was finally bought by Narendra Nath Mohan in 1949
✣ Jawaharlal Nehru, refused to visit it while on way to Shimla in 1960 as it was
named after Edward Dyer, whose son General Reginald Edward Dyer was
associated with the gruesome Jallianwala Bagh massacre
✣ The company’s name was changed to Mohan Meakin Breweries Ltd on
November 1, 1966, and from April 24, 1980, it was known as Mohan Meakin
Ltd.
✣

14. Thank You