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"Jallianwala is probably one of the best-known events in 20th century Indian history and has resulted in a lot of myth-making, both colonial and nationalist,” said author and historian Dr Zareer Masani at a lecture on "The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre: 1919-2019” at the K. R. Cama Oriental Institute (KRCOI) on December 12, 2018. He intended to separate myth from reality and explore the context, the consequences and the relevance of this incident.
Masani who has a DPhil from Oxford and is the author of several books on Indian history was visiting Amritsar to produce a program for the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) to commemorate the event in view of its approaching centenary.
The incident took place on April 13, 1919, under Brig Gen Reginald Dyer’s orders. Fifty Gurkhas and Baluchis armed with Enfield rifles (not machine guns) shot 1,650 rounds of ammunition on a crowd of people (estimates vary from 5,000-30,000 rounds) for six to 10 minutes (estimates vary) at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar. Though the Hunter Committee reported that 379 people had died (this probably did not include those who were taken home and died there), some estimates mention 1,000. The local Seva committee mentions 500 which could be a more accurate figure. Says Masani, "What is important is that several hundreds were killed and wounded, no warning was given and several were shot in the back while trying to escape.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why did trouble erupt in Punjab which supported the Raj and which was not a nationalist province? At the time, there was much agrarian unrest and high prices due to poor monsoons resulting in food scarcity. The military has always been the main form of employment with 60% of the British Indian Army being sourced from Punjab. World War I had ended the year before and the Punjabi soldiers returned home to face demobilization and unemployment. They were also flush with ideas of nationalism. A general mood of discontent prevailed, aggravated by the recently introduced Rowlatt Act (which indefinitely extended the emergency measures of preventive detention). There was a peaceful hartal (strike) in Amritsar on April 6, 1919. Then things suddenly went awry. Mahatma Gandhi, who was on his way to Punjab, was arrested and sent back to Bombay. Two national leaders, Dr Satya Pal and Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew, were arrested and deported. The town hall was set on fire and the telegraph office looted. All the foreigners were evacuated and housed in safety at Amritsar Fort. Five British civilians working in banks and the railways fell into mob hands and were beaten to death. There was an attack on Marcella Sherwood, a British missionary aged 45. She was a superintendent of the mission schools, and was riding her bicycle to one of the schools. She managed to ensure that the children were sent home because of the hartal. She was attacked by a mob and severely battered and kicked till she lost consciousness. She was rescued and was looked after by an Indian doctor.
While she hovered between life and death, she was visited by Dyer who had come from his post in Jalandhar to deal with the emergency situation in Amritsar. He had issued a proclamation banning assemblies of more than eight persons which, he said, was read in 19 locations. This covered six percent of the population of Amritsar but left out the entire central and eastern part of the city including the Golden Temple and Jallianwala Bagh. He tragically believed that the crowds assembled in Jallianwala were in direct contravention to his orders, though the meeting had been called prior to his proclamation.
Dyer was not informed that there were several families with women and children who had congregated there to celebrate Baisakhi in addition to the people who were present for the political meeting. The general was afraid that if he did not act in a swift and decisive manner the crowd would cut off his retreat. After the massacre he imposed a 100% curfew and ensured that it was complied with; this meant that no medical attention was possible for the wounded in the Bagh or those who had made it home in critical condition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The incident put an end to all resistance and unrest in the province. An order was issued that anyone who had to use the lane in which Sherwood was attacked would have to crawl through the entire distance of 150 ft. All sorts of peculiar and humiliating penalties were issued to people who were politically active: non-stop skipping, composing pro-Raj poetry and salaaming (paying obeisance) by touching one’s head to the ground.
Surprisingly, Dyer did have Indian supporters in Amritsar who did not approve of the rioting. Many of them were Indian shopkeepers who were forced to shut their shops and lost business. Dyer was invited to the Golden Temple and was asked to convert to Sikhism. When Dyer mentioned he could not grow his hair, he was told that he could be excused but he would have to stop smoking. He was finally initiated and invested with the five Ks [kesh (uncut hair), kara (a steel bracelet), kanga (a wooden comb), kaccha (cotton underwear) and kirpan (steel sword)].
British public opinion was very divided over the massacre. For the British women of Amritsar, Dyer was a knight in shining armor; but, C. F. Andrews, a close friend of Gandhi, said he could not sleep or eat after the event and did not wish to communicate with anyone. The Hunter Committee was set up comprising eight persons of which three were Indians. Dyer admitted he would have brought in armored cars and used machine guns if the entrance were wide enough, a comment which convinced several Englishmen that the general was his own worst enemy.
There was an irreconcilable dispute between the Indian and the British members of the Hunter Committee and finally the two factions stopped taking to each other. While the Committee opined that Dyer’s behavior was indefensible, the Indians submitted a more critical minority report and felt that he had acted in an inhuman and un-British way.
Dyer was summoned to Delhi and told he would have to return to Britain. In England, the debate in the House of Commons in July 1920 was bitterly acrimonious. Sir Winston Churchill, who condemned the massacre terming it "monstrous,” turned the tide of the debate against Dyer. The house voted to censure the general who was made to resign. However, the House of Lords retaliated a few days later by supporting the soldier. The Morning Post, a Tory newspaper, submitted an appeal for a fund for Dyer, "the man who saved India;” £ 28,000 were collected due to which he was able to retire comfortably.
Dyer could not return to India, so he lived in Britain till he died in 1957 and received a full military funeral. Writer Rudyard Kipling said in an ambiguous manner: "He (Dyer) did his duty as he saw it.” Sherwood returned to the Punjab in 1947 and helped in the relief work for the people who were uprooted by Partition. Former British Prime Minister David Cameron who visited Jallianwala in 2013 did not formally apologize but admitted it was a deeply shameful event in British history, one they should never forget and ensure that it never happens again. The British government did compensate the families of the deceased at today’s value of Rs 32,00,000 per head but the Indian Congress government offered no recognition after Independence. The victims were completely forgotten and only used for political reasons.
"What is the significance of Jallianwala?” queried Masani: Not the numbers. Several more have died in massacres. Akbar killed 40,000 men, women and children at Chittor, Tipu Sultan 1,00,000 at Travancore, the Congress 1,00,000 during their so-called police action in Hyderabad. "Jallianwala did change the course of history,” said the historian. "It totally alienated people who were loyal to the Raj: (Rabindranath) Tagore returned his knighthood and Gandhi, his medals. It also made Gandhi the undisputed leader of the Congress. It isolated moderates like C. R. Das and Motilal Nehru. The Rowlatt Act, over which so much blood had been spilt, was repealed a few years later. I am convinced on a personal level that violence breeds violence. There are no winners, only losers.”
The lecture was chaired by Dr Rashna Poncha, assistant professor of history at Sophia College. Honorary secretary of KRCOI Dr Nawaz Mody proposed a vote of thanks.