2. Describe the Jalianawala bagh incident of 1919
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Answer:
Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, Jallianwala also spelled Jallianwalla, also called Massacre of Amritsar, incident on April 13, 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 (now in Punjab state) of India, killing ...
Answer:
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919, when Acting Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer ordered troops of the British Indian Army to fire their rifles into a crowd of unarmed Indian civilians[3] in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, Punjab, killing at least 379 people and injuring over 1,200 other people.
Jallianwala Bagh massacre is located in PunjabJallianwala Bagh massacre
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Location of Amritsar in India
Location
Amritsar, Punjab, British India (present day Amritsar, Punjab, India)
Coordinates
31°37′14″N 74°52′50″E
Date
13 April 1919; 101 years ago
05:37 p.m (IST)
Target
Crowd of nonviolent protesters, along with Baisakhi pilgrims, who had gathered in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar
Attack type
Massacre
Weapons
Lee-Enfield rifles
Deaths
379[1] – 1000+[2]
Injured
~ 1,500[2]
Perpetrators
Riflemen of the 9th Gurkha Rifles, the 54th Sikhs and the 59th Sind Rifles, British India Army
No. of participants
50
Mural Depicting 1919 Amritsar Massacre
On Sunday, 13 April 1919, Dyer, convinced a major insurrection could take place, banned all meetings. This notice was not widely disseminated, and many villagers gathered in the Bagh to celebrate the important Hindu and Sikh festival of Baisakhi, and peacefully protest the arrest and deportation of two national leaders, Satyapal and Saifuddin Kitchlew. Dyer and his troops entered the garden, blocking the main entrance behind them, took up position on a raised bank, and with no warning opened fire on the crowd for about ten minutes, directing their bullets largely towards the few open gates through which people were trying to flee, until the ammunition supply was almost exhausted. The following day Dyer stated in a report that "I have heard that between 200 and 300 of the crowd were killed. My party fired 1,650 rounds".[4][5]
The Hunter Commission report published the following year by the Government of India criticised both Dyer personally and also the Government of the Punjab for failing to compile a detailed casualty count, and quoted a figure offered by the Sewa Samati (a Social Services Society) of 379 identified dead,[1] and approximately 1,200 wounded, of whom 192 were seriously injured.[6][7] The casualty number estimated by the Indian National Congress was more than 1,500 injured, with approximately 1,000 dead.
Dyer was lauded for his actions by some in Britain, and indeed became a hero among many of those who were directly benefiting from the British Raj,[8] such as members of the House of Lords.[9] He was, however, widely denounced and criticised in the House of Commons, whose July 1920 committee of investigation censured him. Because he was a soldier acting on orders, he could not be tried for murder. The military chose not to bring him before a court-martial, and his only punishment was to be removed from his current appointment, turned down for a proposed promotion, and barred from further employment in India. Dyer subsequently retired from the army and returned to England, where he died, unrepentant about his actions, in 1927.[10][11][12]