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Mughalsarai WDP-4D #40253 leading the Power of 18103 Tatanagar - Amritsar Jallianwala Bagh Express @ Flat 100 kmph
The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. A large peaceful crowd had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab, British India, to protest against the Rowlatt Act and arrest of pro-independence activists Saifuddin Kitchlew and Satyapal. In response to the public gathering, the temporary Brigadier general, R. E. H. Dyer, surrounded the protesters with his Gurkha, Baloch, Rajput and Sikh troops from 2-9th Gurkhas, the 54th Sikhs and the 59th Scinde Rifles of the British Indian Army.[4] The Jallianwala Bagh could only be exited on one side, as its other three sides were enclosed by buildings. After blocking the exit with his troops, he ordered them to shoot at the crowd, continuing to fire even as the protestors tried to flee. The troops kept on firing until their ammunition was exhausted. Estimates of those killed vary between 379 and 1,500 or more people[1] and over 1,200 other people were injured of whom 192 were seriously injured.
MGS WAP 4 # 22752 hauled Tatanagar (TATA) bound 18104 (Amritsar-Tatanagar) Jallianwala Bagh Express entering in the tunnel in Gurpa Gujhandi Ghat Section.
Video Link : youtu.be/jHOVv9SXjh0
LKO WDM-3A 16192 honouring 18103 Tatanagar - Amritsar Jallianwala Bagh Express in Max speed at 100Kmph
The infamous massacre of Jallianwalla Bagh where 1500rounds were fired by General Dyer's soldiers on unarmed men, women and children - in a walled space, with one exit! Indian National Congress estimates the casualties at 1500 of which 1000 were killed of bullets.
Another imperial atrocity which goes unchecked when the trumpets of democracy and human rights are blown.
Although the Queen Elizabeth II had not made any comments on the incident during her state visits later 1961 and 1983, she spoke about the events at a state banquet in India on October 13, 1997:
“It is no secret that there have been some difficult episodes in our past -- Jallianwala Bagh, which I shall visit tomorrow, is a distressing example. But history cannot be rewritten, however much we might sometimes wish otherwise. It has its moments of sadness, as well as gladness. We must learn from the sadness and build on the gladness."
Wonder if she was glad seeing it!! The statement reeks of hypocricy and shamelessness....I also wonder how the Queen would react if the same logic is used for a tragedy that is more personal to the (fallen) Empire & its people.
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Flowering plants put at a display, outside Jallianwala Bagh Amritsar , India.
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Sriram SN
Location of the massacre of Indians in India by the occupying colonialist British Government. Winston Churchill reported nearly 400 slaughtered, and three or four times the number wounded to the Westminster Parliament, on 8 July 1920. Some estimates put the number of Indian civilians killed on that day by the British police at more than 1500.
Winston Churchill, in the House of Commons debate of 8 July 1920, said "The crowd was unarmed, except with bludgeons. It was not attacking anybody or anything ... When fire had been opened upon it to disperse it, it tried to run away. Pinned up in a narrow place considerably smaller than Trafalgar Square, with hardly any exits, and packed together so that one bullet would drive through three or four bodies, the people ran madly this way and the other. When the fire was directed upon the centre, they ran to the sides. The fire was then directed to the sides. Many threw themselves down on the ground, the fire was then directed down on the ground. This was continued to 8 to 10 minutes, and it stopped only when the ammunition had reached the point of exhaustion."
(From Wikipedia)
For more details on this massacre, please visit the below Wikipedia website.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jallianwala_Bagh_massacre
IMG_1142_pl
Location of the massacre of Indians in India by the occupying colonialist British Government. Winston Churchill reported nearly 400 slaughtered, and three or four times the number wounded to the Westminster Parliament, on 8 July 1920. Some estimates put the number of Indian civilians killed on that day by the British police at more than 1500.
A closer look at the narrow entrance to Jallianwala Bagh (Fenced Garden). This was the only entrance/exit to this park, which was closed and locked by the British forces so no one would be able to escape once they started firing on innocent, unarmed, men, women and children who had gathered in this garden. The goal of the British police was to cause maximum fatalities.
Winston Churchill, in the House of Commons debate of 8 July 1920, said "The crowd was unarmed, except with bludgeons. It was not attacking anybody or anything ... When fire had been opened upon it to disperse it, it tried to run away. Pinned up in a narrow place considerably smaller than Trafalgar Square, with hardly any exits, and packed together so that one bullet would drive through three or four bodies, the people ran madly this way and the other. When the fire was directed upon the centre, they ran to the sides. The fire was then directed to the sides. Many threw themselves down on the ground, the fire was then directed down on the ground. This was continued to 8 to 10 minutes, and it stopped only when the ammunition had reached the point of exhaustion."
(From Wikipedia)
For more details on this massacre, please visit the below Wikipedia website.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jallianwala_Bagh_massacre
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There was a political meeting for pre-election advertisement by local Congress leaders which is “hamari pyaari beham Sonia Ghandi’s party” ( “the party of our loving sister Sonia Ghandi”...lol...!!!) in front of the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial in Amritsar (Punjab).
A man started shouting in a microphone for a few minutes and little by little an huge crowd was there listening to his speech and the traffic was jamed.
When it ended this group of Sardar-jis were in the middle of the street, I liked this swirl of turbans with several colours that I could see from the window of where I was standing.
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Sardar (Persian: سردار ) is a title of Persian origin, used for military or political leaders.
The word's cognate in Persian, Sirdar, means commander.
Literally sar means "head" while dar means "holder" in Persian.
Thus, the term Sardar may also mean a military or political leader, comparable to the English chieftain.
In India/Pakistan, in Punjabi, Hindi and other Indian languages, the word often refers to a male follower of the Sikh faith.
Often, the -ji is added to the word to denote respect, resulting in the word "Sardarji".
The word may convey several meanings, often associated with military authority.
In Sikhism, sardar refers to a man who has a beard, hair and covers their hair with a turban and Sikhs often use Sardar as prefix to their name instead of Mister, e.g. Sardar Surjit Singh.
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"The Year 2019 marks the Centenary of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, also known as the Amritsar Massacre that occurred on April 13, 1919.
On this day, soldiers of the British Indian Army, on the orders of Colonel (temporary brigadier general) Reginald Dyer, massacred peaceful and unarmed celebrators, including women and children, on the occasion of the Punjabi New Year (Baisakhi). This massacre is remembered as one of the deadliest attacks on peaceful civilians in the world.
In the afternoon of that fateful day, Colonel Dyer, later called ‘the butcher of Amritsar’, on hearing that a meeting had assembled at Jallianwala Bagh, went with 90 soldiers to a raised bank near the entrance to the Bagh (garden) and ordered them to shoot at the crowd, without giving any warning. Dyer continued the firing for about ten minutes, until the ammunition supply was almost exhausted.
It was later stated that 1,650 bullets had been fired (derived by counting empty cartridge cases picked up by the troops). Official British Indian sources gave a figure of 379 identified dead, with approximately 1,200 wounded. The number estimated by the Indian National Congress was more than 1,500 injured, with approximately 1,000 dead.
This wanton massacre of innocents had shaken the whole of India and was the beginning of the end of the British Colonial Empire in India.
It left a permanent scar on India-British relations and was the prelude to Mahatma Gandhi’s full commitment to the cause of Indian Nationalism and independence from Britain."-The Citizen
You walking in though the four feet wide entrance, knowing there were solders walking in with the sole intention to kill you. Yes, you read about the apology of Theresa May, Prince Charles and Her Majesty-The Queen, and then you see a well, from where 300 bodies were recovered, bodies of flesh who dived in to escape bullets on their new year, 300 meters from your holiest temple, where you go for pilgrimge.
Then you stare at the bullet ridden bricks.
Pain, is an understatement. 100 years... its going to take more than that.
© All rights reserved, don´t use this image without my permission. Contact me at debmalya86@gmail.com
Location of the massacre of Indians in India by the occupying colonialist British Government. Winston Churchill reported nearly 400 slaughtered, and three or four times the number wounded to the Westminster Parliament, on 8 July 1920. Some estimates put the number of Indian civilians killed on that day by the British police at more than 1500.
The narrow entrance to Jallianwala Bagh (Fenced Garden). This was the only entrance/exit to this park, which was closed and locked by the British forces so no one would be able to escape once they started firing on innocent, unarmed, men, women and children who had gathered in this garden. The goal of the British police was to cause maximum fatalities.
Winston Churchill, in the House of Commons debate of 8 July 1920, said "The crowd was unarmed, except with bludgeons. It was not attacking anybody or anything ... When fire had been opened upon it to disperse it, it tried to run away. Pinned up in a narrow place considerably smaller than Trafalgar Square, with hardly any exits, and packed together so that one bullet would drive through three or four bodies, the people ran madly this way and the other. When the fire was directed upon the centre, they ran to the sides. The fire was then directed to the sides. Many threw themselves down on the ground, the fire was then directed down on the ground. This was continued to 8 to 10 minutes, and it stopped only when the ammunition had reached the point of exhaustion."
(From Wikipedia)
For more details on this massacre, please visit the below Wikipedia website.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jallianwala_Bagh_massacre
IMG_1042_pl
Location of the massacre of Indians in India by the occupying colonialist British Government. Winston Churchill reported nearly 400 slaughtered, and three or four times the number wounded to the Westminster Parliament, on 8 July 1920. Some estimates put the number of Indian civilians killed on that day by the British police at more than 1500.
Another structure with bullet marks, preserved from that massacre.
Winston Churchill, in the House of Commons debate of 8 July 1920, said "The crowd was unarmed, except with bludgeons. It was not attacking anybody or anything ... When fire had been opened upon it to disperse it, it tried to run away. Pinned up in a narrow place considerably smaller than Trafalgar Square, with hardly any exits, and packed together so that one bullet would drive through three or four bodies, the people ran madly this way and the other. When the fire was directed upon the centre, they ran to the sides. The fire was then directed to the sides. Many threw themselves down on the ground, the fire was then directed down on the ground. This was continued to 8 to 10 minutes, and it stopped only when the ammunition had reached the point of exhaustion."
(From Wikipedia)
For more details on this massacre, please visit the below Wikipedia website.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jallianwala_Bagh_massacre
IMG_1133_pl
Jallianwala Bagh is a public garden in Amritsar in the Punjab state of India, and houses a memorial of national importance, established in 1951 to commemorate the massacre by British occupying forces of peaceful celebrators.
Location of the massacre of Indians in India by the occupying colonialist British Government. Winston Churchill reported nearly 400 slaughtered, and three or four times the number wounded to the Westminster Parliament, on 8 July 1920. Some estimates put the number of Indian civilians killed on that day by the British police at more than 1500.
There was a well, into which hundreds of people jumped and drowned. They jumped into the well trying to escape the British police gunfire. But the poor folks died by drowning in the well. Hundreds died. 120 drowned bodies were recovered from the well.
Winston Churchill, in the House of Commons debate of 8 July 1920, said "The crowd was unarmed, except with bludgeons. It was not attacking anybody or anything ... When fire had been opened upon it to disperse it, it tried to run away. Pinned up in a narrow place considerably smaller than Trafalgar Square, with hardly any exits, and packed together so that one bullet would drive through three or four bodies, the people ran madly this way and the other. When the fire was directed upon the centre, they ran to the sides. The fire was then directed to the sides. Many threw themselves down on the ground, the fire was then directed down on the ground. This was continued to 8 to 10 minutes, and it stopped only when the ammunition had reached the point of exhaustion."
(From Wikipedia)
For more details on this massacre, please visit the below Wikipedia website.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jallianwala_Bagh_massacre
IMG_1106_pl
Carchar Pentonville, Llundain, a gynlluniwyd gan y Capten Joshua Jebb, ac a gafodd ei gwblhau yn 1842.
Crogwyd y chwyldrowr Gwyddelig Ruairí Dáithí Mac Easmainn (Roger Casement) yno ar 3 Awst, 1916, ac ’roedd ei weddillion wedi eu claddu ar y safle tan 1965. Disgrifiwyd y cenedlaetholwr hwn fel "tad ymchwiliadau'r ugeinfed ganrif i hawliau dynol". Dywedir mai gweld gweithredoedd anfad trefedigaethwyr a 'i trodd yn erbyn yr Ymerodraeth.
Cadwyd Udham Singh, y chwyldrowr Indiadd a saethodd Syr Michael O'Dwyer, Llywodraethwr y Punjab yn ystod Cyflafan Amritsar, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jallianwala_Bagh_massacre yn y carchar hwn hefyd, a'i grogi yno yn 1940. Yn Amritsar, amcangyfrifir i 379 o bobl gael eu lladd ac i 1,200 gael eu clwyfo pan orchmynnodd y Prif Frigadydd Reginald Dyer i'w filwyr saethu ar dorf o brotestwyr.
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Prizon Pentonville, Londrez, bet raktreset gant ar c'habiten Joshua Jebb ha kaset da benn e 1842.
Krouget e oa bet an dispac'her iwerzhonat Ruairí Dáithí Mac Easmainn (Roger Casement) eno d'an 3 a viz Eost 1916, hag e relegoù a oa douaret war an dachenn betek 1965. Lavaret ez eus bet diwar e benn e oa "tad enklaskoù an ugentvet kantved a-fed gwirioù mab-den." Hervez kont ez eo gwelet obererezh euzhus an drevadennerien en lakaas da sevel a-enep impalaerezh Breizh-Veur.
Er prizon-mañ ivez e oa bet dalc'het Udham Singh, an dispac'her indian a dennas war Sir Michael O' Dwyer, rener ar Punjab da vare lazhadeg Amritsar. fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_d%27Amritsar Krouget e voe eno e 1940. En Amritsar e vrasjeder e oa bet lazhet 379 a dud ha gloaziet ouzhpenn 1,200 pa roas ar penn brigader Reginald Dyer an urzh d'e soudarded da dennañ war vanifesterien.
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Pentonville Prison, London, designed by Captain Joshua Jebb, was completed in 1842
The Irish revolutionary Ruairí Dáithí Mac Easmainn / Roger Casement was hanged there on 3 August, 1916, and his remains interred at the site until 1965. Casement has been described as the "father of twentieth-century human rights investigations." It is said that it was seeing the atrocities of colonialists which caused him to turn against the Empire.
Udham Singh, the Indian revolutionary, who shot Sir Michael O'Dwyer, Governor of the Punjab during the Amritsar Massacre, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jallianwala_Bagh_massacre was also held in custody and hanged there in 1940. An estimated 379 people were killed and over 1,200 were wounded at Amritsar when Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer ordered his troops to fire on a crowd of protesters.
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Wedi ei ailolygu / Adwelet a-nevez / Re-edited: 10/2017
Location of the massacre of Indians in India by the occupying colonialist British Government. Winston Churchill reported nearly 400 slaughtered, and three or four times the number wounded to the Westminster Parliament, on 8 July 1920. Some estimates put the number of Indian civilians killed on that day by the British police at more than 1500.
A memorial constructed at Jallianwala Bagh, in memory of the people massacred by the British colonialist government.
Winston Churchill, in the House of Commons debate of 8 July 1920, said "The crowd was unarmed, except with bludgeons. It was not attacking anybody or anything ... When fire had been opened upon it to disperse it, it tried to run away. Pinned up in a narrow place considerably smaller than Trafalgar Square, with hardly any exits, and packed together so that one bullet would drive through three or four bodies, the people ran madly this way and the other. When the fire was directed upon the centre, they ran to the sides. The fire was then directed to the sides. Many threw themselves down on the ground, the fire was then directed down on the ground. This was continued to 8 to 10 minutes, and it stopped only when the ammunition had reached the point of exhaustion."
(From Wikipedia)
For more details on this massacre, please visit the below Wikipedia website.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jallianwala_Bagh_massacre
IMG_1135_pl
Location of the massacre of Indians in India by the occupying colonialist British Government. Winston Churchill reported nearly 400 slaughtered, and three or four times the number wounded to the Westminster Parliament, on 8 July 1920. Some estimates put the number of Indian civilians killed on that day by the British police at more than 1500.
Some magnificent old trees, probably witness to the massacre committed by the colonialist British government.
Winston Churchill, in the House of Commons debate of 8 July 1920, said "The crowd was unarmed, except with bludgeons. It was not attacking anybody or anything ... When fire had been opened upon it to disperse it, it tried to run away. Pinned up in a narrow place considerably smaller than Trafalgar Square, with hardly any exits, and packed together so that one bullet would drive through three or four bodies, the people ran madly this way and the other. When the fire was directed upon the centre, they ran to the sides. The fire was then directed to the sides. Many threw themselves down on the ground, the fire was then directed down on the ground. This was continued to 8 to 10 minutes, and it stopped only when the ammunition had reached the point of exhaustion."
(From Wikipedia)
For more details on this massacre, please visit the below Wikipedia website.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jallianwala_Bagh_massacre
IMG_1115_pl
The 1919 Amritsar massacre, known alternatively as the Jallianwala Bagh massacre after the Jallianwala Bagh (Garden) in the northern Indian city of Amritsar, was ordered by General.
Dyer, began shooting at an unarmed gathering of men,women and children.
A May 1919 photo of British troops returning with a Great Indian Peninsula Railway train from the riots at Bombay. The riots may have been triggered by the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of April 13, 1919. A detailed account of the massacre is available in the following Wikipedia link:
Jallian Wala Bagh is a place where one of the most notorious massacre under British rule happened.
It is 400 meters north of the Golden Temple in Amritsar (Punjab).
The British General Dyer was the Lieutenant Governor of the province in 1919.
He banned all meetings and demonstrations led by Indians against the economical set back by World War I.
On the afternoon of April 13, 1919, some 10,000 or more unarmed men, women, and children gathered in Amritsar's Jallianwala Bagh (bagh, “garden”; but before 1919 it had become a public square) to attend a protest meeting, despite a ban on public assemblies.
It was a Sunday, and many neighbouring village peasants also came to Amritsar to celebrate the Hindu Baisakhi festival.
Dyer positioned his men at the sole, narrow passageway of the Bagh, which was otherwise entirely enclosed by the backs of abutted brick buildings.
Giving no word of warning, he ordered 50 soldiers to fire into the gathering, and for 10 to 15 minutes 1,650 rounds of ammunition were unloaded into the screaming, terrified crowd, some of whom were trampled by those desperately trying to escape.
It resulted in the death of about two thousand people who were Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims.
India was outraged by Dyer's massacre.
Gandhiji, called for a nation wide strike and started the Non-cooperation Movement, which became an important mile stone in the struggle for India's Independence.
This image shows a well which is located on the north side of the memorial in which many people who tried to escape from the bullets were drowned, and remnants of walls have been preserved to show the bullet holes.
Trying to remember those Martyrs might help that such a monstrous event never happens again not only in india but anywhere else, this is the legacy that History leaves to us.
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Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, Punjab, India.
Bullet marks from the April 13, 1919, shooting of innocent civilians gathered to protest “the Rowlatt act” by the British Army Colonel Reginald Dyer are preserved and outlined in white. Now known as the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, this event was the turning point in the Indian freedom struggle. After this incident, the Indian National Congress, led by Gandhi, steered the agitation from “improving” the then colonial government system to a non-violent “Quit India” movement.
In the end, according to the official British report there were 379 dead and over 1,000 injured with 1,650 rounds of bullets fired during the 10 – 15 minutes of enclosed firing on the crowd. However, Indian accounts put the total dead over 1,000. During the investigation into this massacre, Dyer said he would have used the machine guns but they were mounted on armored vehicles. Ironically, a London conservative newspaper led by prominent [imperialistic] supporters organized a fundraiser for Dyer that raised about 26,000 pounds (more than a million dollars in today’s money). In contrast, the then government distributed about 500 rupees (approximately $2000 in today’s value) to each victims family.
I am concluding my India series with this image. This was my first visit to this part of India, and it was incredible. Hope to visit there again very soon. Thanks again for your kind words and appreciation.
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The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919 when troops of the British Indian Army under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer fired rifles into a crowd of Indians, who had gathered in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, Punjab. The Rowlatt Act, 1919 had been implemented and it was not informed to the civilians. The civilians had assembled for a festival known as Baisakhi. Baisakhi marks the Sikh new year and commemorates the formation of Khalsapanth of warriors under Guru Gobind Singh in 1699. Jallianwalla Bagh is a public garden of 6 to 7 acres (2.8 ha), walled on all sides, with five entrances.
Location of the massacre of Indians in India by the occupying colonialist British Government. Winston Churchill reported nearly 400 slaughtered, and three or four times the number wounded to the Westminster Parliament, on 8 July 1920. Some estimates put the number of Indian civilians killed on that day by the British police at more than 1500.
Above, a closer view of the structure with bullet marks, preserved from that massacre.
Winston Churchill, in the House of Commons debate of 8 July 1920, said "The crowd was unarmed, except with bludgeons. It was not attacking anybody or anything ... When fire had been opened upon it to disperse it, it tried to run away. Pinned up in a narrow place considerably smaller than Trafalgar Square, with hardly any exits, and packed together so that one bullet would drive through three or four bodies, the people ran madly this way and the other. When the fire was directed upon the centre, they ran to the sides. The fire was then directed to the sides. Many threw themselves down on the ground, the fire was then directed down on the ground. This was continued to 8 to 10 minutes, and it stopped only when the ammunition had reached the point of exhaustion."
(From Wikipedia)
For more details on this massacre, please visit the below Wikipedia website.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jallianwala_Bagh_massacre
IMG_1132_pl
This wall has its own historic significance as it has twenty eight bullet marks which can be easily seen at present and these were fired into the crowd by the order of General Dyer.
Moreover, no warning was given to disperse before Dyer opened fire which was gathered here against the rowlatt act.
One thousand six hundred and fifty rounds were fired.
The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, also known as the Amritsar Massacre, was named after the Jallianwala Bagh (Garden) in the northern Indian city of Amritsar, where, on April 13, 1919, British Indian Army soldiers under the command of Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer opened fire on an unarmed gathering of men, women and children.
The firing lasted about 10 minutes and 1650 rounds were fired, or 33 rounds per soldier.
Official British Raj sources placed the fatalities at 379.
"This place is saturated with the blood of about two thousand Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims who were martyred in a non-violent struggle".
The massacre is depicted in Richard Attenborough's 1982 film "Gandhi" with the role of Brigadier Dyer played by Edward Fox.
It is also depicted in Indian films "Rang De Basanti" and "The Legend of Bhagat Singh".
Remembering those Martyrs in order that such a monstrous event never happens again not only in india but anywhere else as well.
Join the photographer at www.facebook.com/laurent.goldstein.photography
© All photographs are copyrighted and all rights reserved.
Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).
The use of any work without consent of the artist is PROHIBITED and will lead automatically to consequences.
This Picture was taken at Jalian Wala Bagh. The park near Darbar Sahib ( Golden Temple) Amritsar where Gen Dyer massacred hundreds of innocent people.
The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, also known as the Amritsar Massacre, was named after the Jallianwala Bagh (Garden) in the northern Indian city of Amritsar, where, on April 13, 1919, British Indian Army soldiers under the command of Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer opened fire on an unarmed gathering of men, women and children. The firing lasted about 10 minutes and 1650 rounds were fired, or 33 rounds per soldier. Official British Raj sources placed the fatalities at 379. According to private sources there were over 1000 deaths, with more than 2000 wounded and Civil Surgeon Dr. Smith indicated that there were over 1800 casualties.
On April 13, thousands of people gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh (garden) near the Golden Temple in Amritsar, on Baisakhi, both a harvest and one of the most important Sikh festivals. It was in 1699 during this festival that the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh created the Khalsa adding the name Singh or Kaur to every Sikh's name. So, for more than two hundred years, this annual festival had drawn thousands from all over India. People had travelled for days, before the ban on assembly.
A group of 90 Indian Army soldiers marched to the park accompanied by two armoured cars. The vehicles were unable to enter the Bagh through the narrow entrance.
The Jallianwala Bagh was bounded on all sides by houses and buildings and had few narrow entrances, most of which were kept permanently locked. Since there was only one open exit, except for the one already blocked by the troops, people desperately tried to climb the walls of the park. Many jumped into a well inside the compound to escape from the bullets. A plaque in the monument says that 120 bodies were plucked out of the well.
As a result of the firing, hundreds of people were killed and thousands were injured. Official records put the figures at 379 killed (337 men, 41 boys and a six-week-old baby) and 200 injured, though the actual figure is hotly disputed to this day. The wounded could not be moved from where they had fallen, as a curfew had been declared.
Back in his headquarters, Dyer reported to his superiors that he had been "confronted by a revolutionary army," and had been obliged "to teach a moral lesson to the Punjab."
In a telegram sent to Dyer, British Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab, Sir Michael O'Dwyer wrote: "Your action is correct. Lieutenant Governor approves."
O'Dwyer requested that martial law be imposed upon Amritsar and other areas; this was granted by the Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford, after the massacre.
Dyer was called to appear before the Hunter Commission, a commission of inquiry into the massacre that was ordered to convene by Secretary of State for India Edwin Montagu, in late 1919. Dyer admitted before the commission that he came to know about the meeting at the Jallianwala Bagh at 12:40 hours that day but took no steps to prevent it. He stated that he had gone to the Bagh with the deliberate intention of opening fire if he found a crowd assembled there.
"I think it quite possible that I could have dispersed the crowd without firing but they would have come back again and laughed, and I would have made, what I consider, a fool of myself." — Dyer's response to the Hunter Commission Enquiry.
Dyer said he would have used his machine guns if he could have got them into the enclosure, but these were mounted on armoured cars. He said he did not stop firing when the crowd began to disperse because he thought it was his duty to keep firing until the crowd dispersed, and that a little firing would do no good.
He confessed that he did not take any steps to tend to the wounded after the firing. "Certainly not. It was not my job. Hospitals were open and they could have gone there," was his response.