Context:
PM Modi and President Murmu paid tribute to Jallianwala Bagh massacre victims
Jallianwala Bagh Massacre:
- Execution of hundreds of innocent people by the British Indian army on 13th April 1919
- Took place in – Amritsar, Punjab
- Also known as – Amritsar massacre
- Executed under – Anglo-Indian Brigadier R.E.H. Dyer
- Background –
- As part of Mahatma Gandhi’s Rowlatt satyagraha, peaceful anti-Rowlatt meetings were held in Amritsar
- On 9th April 1919, 2 nationalist leaders, Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satyapal, were arrested by the British officials without any provocation causing resentment among people .
- To curb any future protest, law and order in Punjab was handed over to Brigadier-General Dyer who ordered open fire on the unarmed crowd.
- Aftermath –
- Appointment of Hunter Commission to investigate the incident.
- Hunter report criticised General Dyer’s actions as unjustified.
- He was forced to resign, but no serious penalties were imposed on him and other perpetrators.
- Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore renounced the knighthood that he had received in 1915.
- Became one of the causes that led Mahatma Gandhi to launch the Non Cooperation Movement (1920-22)
- In 1940, Udham Singh, an Indian freedom fighter, killed Michael O’Dwyer, who was the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab during the massacre
- Appointment of Hunter Commission to investigate the incident.
Rowlatt Act 1919:
- Also called – Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919
- Passed on the recommendations of – Sedition Committee chaired by Sir Sidney Rowlatt.
- Based on – Defense of India Act, 1915 which was imposed to curb anti-colonial activities during World War I.
- Major Provisions –
- Allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for 2 years. No appeal was allowed against such administrative detention.
- Tighter censorship, control of extremist publications and restrictions on public gatherings were introduced.
Source: Times of India
Previous Year Question
During the Indian Freedom Struggle, why did Rowlatt Act arouse popular indignation?
[UPSC Civil Service Exam – 2009 Prelims]
(a) It curtailed the freedom of religion
(b) It suppressed the Indian traditional education
(c) It authorized the government to imprison people without trial
(d) It curbed the trade union activities
Answer: (c)
