13 April 1919[EoS]
Jallianwala Bagh massacre
On Vaisakhi, Brigadier-General Dyer's troops fire without warning on a crowd in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar. The official count is 379 killed and 1,200 wounded, and many of the crowd are Sikhs in the city for the festival.
Protest against the Rowlatt Act reached Amritsar in April 1919. Two local leaders, Dr Satyapal and Dr Kitchlew, were arrested on 10 April and sent away. Troops fired on the crowd that marched in protest, and five Europeans were then beaten to death in the rioting. Dyer took control of the city on 11 April and banned meetings the next day.
On 13 April a meeting went ahead in the Bagh, an enclosed open space. The crowd is estimated at 15,000 to 20,000, with Sikhs a large share of it. Dyer arrived at about 5.15 pm with 50 riflemen. His men fired 1,650 rounds over about twenty minutes, with no order to disperse.
The Hunter Committee found against Dyer, who lost his command and was retired early. When priests of the Darbar Sahib honoured him, the anger among Sikhs fed the campaign to reform gurdwara management. The site was bought for the nation in 1920, and the memorial was inaugurated on 13 April 1961.[EoS]
Dates in the sources
- 1919-04-13: The date is agreed, but the number of dead is not. Dyer estimated 200 to 300. Official figures gave 379 killed and 1,200 wounded. Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, who gathered information himself, put the dead at over 1,000.[EoS]