Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, Punjab, India.

The visit to Jallianwala Bagh, a part of Amritsar, at Amritsar in Punjab state was a part of the AMARNATH JI yatra on 05^th July 2014. This was a continuation of the Yatra to Kailash and Chardham (Yamunothri, Gangotri, Badrinath, and Kedarnath), with the same Group, but with a change of Travel agency. The main itinerary in this Amarnath yatra includes Shiv Khori Cave, Shri Vaishno Devi Cave, Mata Kheer Bhawani Temple, Amritsar, Wagah border, and Shri Raghunath Temple, Jammu.

 

The name board on the left of the building 

As per the historians, the root cause for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre was the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919, passed in the British Legislative Council. In 1919, the British Government was forced to deal with the nationalist surge amongst people in India and participating in World War I at the same time. To suppress the Nationalist movements, the British Government passed two bills in the British Legislative Council, known as also popularly known as the Rowlatt Act, since the same was recommended by a committee headed by Sidney Rowlatt. These two controversial acts gave the British tyrannical powers to arrest any individual in British India if suspected to be involved in revolutionary activities and put them behind bars for two years, without following any judicial procedures. 

Satyagraha against this Rowlatt Act was initiated by Mahatma Gandhi on 6^th April 1919. Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satyapal spearheaded the protest in Amritsar, Punjab, against the Rowlatt Act and inspired Hindu – Muslim unity among the people.  Michael O’Dwyer ordered the arrest of both Dr Saifuddin and Satyapal on 9^th April 1919, and the same was carried out the next day.

 

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, was an unethical and violent event during the British rule of India. On 13 April 1919, a crowd of non-violent protesters, along with Baisakhi pilgrims of about 10000 people, had gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh garden in Amritsar to celebrate Baisakhi and to protest against the arrest of two leaders, Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satya Pal. It was learned that an English missionary was attacked by the agitated mobs. A Curfew was imposed, and a system of entry and exit to Amritsar was also introduced. On the orders of Brigadier General Reginald Edward Henry Dyer, the Gurkha army of 50 riflemen and the Sindh Regiment fired on the crowd for ten minutes until the ammunition supply was exhausted, directing their bullets at the gathering and blocking the gate. The place where the crowd assembled was surrounded by the building on three sides, and entry & exit were through one gate only.  Due to this, the death toll rose to 370, leaving 1500 wounded (The actual figure was on the higher side, estimated to be 1500 dead and more than 1500 injured).

The bullet markings

This shocked the entire nation, and the Government of India ordered an investigation of this incident (the Hunter Commission), which, in 1920, censured Dyer for his actions and ordered him to resign from the military. The attack was condemned by the Secretary of State for War, Winston Churchill, as unutterably monstrous, and debate was held in the House of Commons on 8^th July 1920. But the House of Lords praised Dyer and gave him a sword with the motto “Saviour of Punjab”.  Dyer’s. Sympathizers collected large funds and presented them to him.  The Nobel Prize laureate Rabindranath Tagore renounced the knighthood that he had received in 1915 from the British Queen.  Mahatma Gandhi was initially hesitant to act, but he soon organized the first large-scale and sustained nonviolent protest (satyagraha) campaign, the noncooperation movement, in 1920 - 22, which thrust him to prominence in the Indian Nationalist Struggle.

Dyer was killed on March 13, 1940, by Udham Singh, a member of the Ghadar Party, in revenge for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. In 1951, a memorial was set up by the Government of India at Jallianwala Bagh to commemorate the spirit of Indian revolutionaries and the people who lost their lives in the Brutal massacre. In 1997, Queen Elizabeth visited Jallianwala Bagh and paid 30 seconds of homage after removing her shoes and laying a wreath on the pink granite memorial.  Later in 2013, British Prime Minister Cameron also visited and voiced his regret over the incident as a “shameful scar on British India History”. But no official apology statement has been issued by the British Government to date. In March 2019,  the Yaad-e-Jallian Museum was inaugurated, showcasing an authentic account of the massacre.

 

HOW TO REACH

2 km from Amritsar Bus Stand and 3.6 km from Amritsar Railway Station.

Amritsar is 470 km from New Delhi, 1731 km from Mumbai, 2000 km from Kolkata, and 2649 km from Chennai.

LOCATION OF THE MONUMENT      : CLICK HERE

Name board above the historic lane 

Martyrs well'

Memorial Stupi 

--- OM SHIVAYA NAMA ---