Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

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1. By- Aadhar, Ayora, Husain, Kritika & Somya 

2. The British empire found itself at a loss for manpower in the
First World war. The native Indian leaders opted to help the British
empire in lieu of a bloodless transfer of power to India.
However, Britain refused to honor its commitment to free India.
Indians resented the fact that the British had exploited their
goodness as well as their finances without any gratitude or help.
On April 10, on O’Dwyer’s order, British
officials in Amritsar arrested Dr. Saif-
ud-Din Kitchlew, a Muslim lawyer,
and Dr. Satyapal, a Hindu who had
served as a medical officer in the British
army. They were leaders of the
Amritsar nationalist movement.

3. Background
Despite the proclamations against meetings, thousands of Indians
flocked to the Jallianwala Bagh on April 13, 1919 most of them
in support of the imprisoned Kitchlew and Satyapal.
Some arrived after the police had closed a nearby fair held in
honour of the Sikh new year. By late afternoon a huge throng was
present, a rather quiet crowd
and not an angry mob.
•Estimates vary, but there
certainly were more than
10,000 people. Enclosed by
the walls of surrounding
buildings, it had only a few
narrow openings for entrance
or exit, some of them
locked.

4. The Incident
Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer reached the spot with 
sixty-five Gurkha and twenty-five Baluchi soldiers with
fifty rifles.
He also brought two armored vehicles fitted with
machine guns.
The garden was an enclosed space with only one exit
which was now blocked by the soldiers.
Dyer did not warn the crowd. Nor did he allow them
to leave. Rather, he asked the men to fire at the crowd
from a close range.

5. THE INCIDENT
More than 1650 bullets were fired upon the bodies of
the crowd of 15,000 to 20,000 from close range.
The firing stopped only when the ammunition was
exhausted.
Close to 1000 were killed on the spot and more than
1500 were seriously injured.
There was such a stampede that hundreds of people
fell into a well in the compound from which more than
120 dead-bodies were eventually pulled out.

6. Never had such a barbaric order been given in India by a
British officer. Though the crowd was totally unarmed,
General Dyer claimed that he was attacked by a
revolutionary army. 
He made it clear that he had gone to the place with the
with a plan  of opening fire upon this crowd. He even said
that he would have used the machine-guns on this helpless
crowd, but could not do so because he could not move
them to position via the narrow passage that led to the
place of gathering.
Historians consider the episode was a decisive step towards
the end of British rule in India.

7. Though it became clear that he had trespassed all
norms of humanity, and though he was asked to
resign from his position in India, he became a
celebrated hero when he reached Britain.
A very large sum of money and much honor was
also given to him. This only made the Indians
more committed to their cause to get freedom
from the Britain.
A young Sikh teenager who was being raised at
Khalsa Orphanage named Udham Singh (aka
Mohammad Singh Azad) saw the happening with
his own eyes. He vowed to avenge the Amritsar
massacre.

8. On 13 March 1940 in the Caxton Hall, London, where a meeting of
the East India Association was being held, Udham Singh fired five
to six shots from his pistol at Sir Michael O'Dwyer, who was
governor of the Punjab when the Amritsar Massacre had taken
place, to avenge the massacre.
On the 31st July, 1940, Udham Singh was hanged at Pentonville
jail, London
"He was the real culprit. He deserved it. He wanted to
crush the spirit of my people, so I [had to] crush him."
Udham Singh, telling the trial court why he killed
Michael O'Dwyer
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre accentuated political awakening in
India and brought Mahatma Gandhi to the forefront of Indian
political life. 

10. A trust was formed later 1920 to build a
memorial at the site after a resolution passed
by the Indian National Congress. In 1923, the
trust purchased land for the project. A
memorial, designed by American
architect Benjamin Polk, was built on the site
and inaugurated by the President of India,
Dr Rajendra Prasad on April 13, 1961, in the
presence of Jawaharlal Nehru and other
leaders. A flame was later added to the site. It
is presently one of the most visited places in
Amritsar.