Unit 3
Rowlatt Satyagraha – Amritsar Massacre

Learning Outcomes

Prerequisites

Key Words

Rowlatt Act, Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, Hunter Commission, Kaiser-e-Hind, Knighthood

Discussion

6.3.1 Rowlatt Act and Rowlatt Satyagraha(1919)

The Central Legislative Council passed the Rowlatt Act in March 1919 to stifle the violent nationalist uprisings and limit people’s freedom. The Bill had no appeal rights and provided for quick trials of offences in special courts. Furthermore, without a warrant, the provincial government had the authority to search a location and detain a suspect. These granted the government unrestricted authority to detain detainees for a maximum of two years without a trial.

The oppressive Rowlatt Act also mandated tighter press regulation and the incarceration of suspects without charge or trial for an indefinite period of time. It sparked a flood of rage across all demographic groups nationwide. Gandhi used it to launch a nationwide protest and lay the groundwork for the Non-Cooperation Movement. The Satyagraha was organised by Gandhi on February 14, 1919. On April 8, 1919, Gandhi was taken into custody. The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, also known as the Massacre of Amritsar, occurred when British soldiers opened fire on a sizable gathering of unarmed Indians in Amritsar, Punjab.

6.3.2 Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (1919)

A turning point in the war for Indian independence occurred on April 13, 1919. That day commemorated Baisakhi, a harvest festival celebrated in Punjab and other regions of north India. In the Jallianwala Bagh park of Amritsar, a sizable assembly of 15,000–20,000 people, with a preponderance of Sikhs, gathered to celebrate the Punjabi harvest festival of Baisakhi.

The following day, Amritsar locals made the decision to hold a meeting to discuss and protest the imprisonment of Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew, two leaders battling for independence, as well as the passage of the oppressive Rowlatt Act, which gave the British government the authority to imprison anyone without a trial. Men, women, and kids were all there in the gathering. In defiance of British orders, they all assembled in the park, which was completely surrounded by walls with just a few small gates.

The demonstration was calm, and it included some people who weren’t protesting and some pilgrims who were just moving through the park on their way to the Golden Temple. Brigadier-General Reginald Edward Harry Dyer ordered the 90 soldiers he had sent to the location to open fire on the crowd while the meeting was still going on. Brigadier-General Dyer had creeped into the scene aiming to teach the assembled public a lesson. Since they had no weapons, many of the villagers tried unsuccessfully to climb the walls to get away. Numerous people fell into the park’s well.

Even after that, the British continued to show no sign of compassion and instead reacted in the ways listed below:

• Satyagrahis were made to rub their noses on the ground in an effort to humiliate and scare people.
• They were made to crawl through the streets and salute every sahib.
• In the Punjabi region near Gujranwala, villages were bombed and people were publicly flayed.

6.3.2.1 Response of the Indians

This provided gasoline for Indians, who intensified their national movement as a result. Indians were brutally shocked by this catastrophe, which completely damaged their trust in the British justice system. The incident and Dyer were categorically criticised by many national leaders.

Nobel prize winner Rabindranath Tagore rejected the Knighthood bestowed upon him in a letter of protest, denouncing the cruel behaviour of the British. Gandhi renounced his title of “Kaiser-e-Hind,” which the British had given him for his efforts during the Boer War in South Africa, in protest against the slaughter and the British inability to provide adequate justice to the victims. The congress meeting was conducted at Amritsar in December 1919. Peasants and other people in great numbers attended. Since the entire country joined in the protest against the British, this incident united India together, which was crucial for the liberation movement.

6.3.2.2 Response of the British Government

Although some in the British government were quick to criticise, many people in Britain and the British in India respected General Dyer. The slaughter had been planned, and Dyer proudly boasted that he had done it to have a “moral effect” on the populace. Dyer also said that he had resolved to fire down all men if they continued the meeting.

The Hunter Commission was established by the government to investigate the massacre. Despite condemning Dyer’s behaviour, the panel took no disciplinary measures against him. In 1920, he was released from his army obligations. It was described as among the most brutal atrocities in contemporary history in a British publication.

6.3.3 Turning point in Indian National Movement

By the turn of the 20th century, even the enslaved people had begun to accept British control in India and other parts of the world. Most Indians had previously come to terms with colonial rule’s progressive nature. The British conception of justice and fairness was shattered by the events at Jallianwala Bagh. The slaughter of the unarmed was seen by the majority of Indians as a betrayal of their faith in the British to rule them correctly, justly, and fairly.

The just, fair, and liberal British suddenly assumed the characteristics of a brutal, bloodthirsty ruler who could not be trusted in the eyes of the Indians. The “enlightened” empire’s wickedness was exposed at Jallianwala Bagh. Since that time, British rule in India has been slipping away slowly but surely. Gandhi based his mass movement, which placed a premium on flouting the ruling class’s laws, on this sense of betrayal. The state lost its legitimacy as its citizens started purposefully breaking its laws. Now, the public actively began to demand purna swaraj.

Recap

Objective type questions

Answer to Objective type questions

Assignment

Suggested Reading