How The Imposition Of Rowlatt Act Led To The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

The British government enacted the Rowlatt Act to increase its power over the regular people. The law was passed in March 1919 by the Imperial Legislative Council, which gave them the authority to arrest anyone without trial. To end this practice, Gandhi and other leaders called on Hartal (suspension of work) to signal Indian opposition to the law, dubbed Rowlatt Satyagraha.

Through the move, the government got the power to silence the media they wanted to investigate the reasons and evidence. As a result, public gatherings of any kind or culture got banned.

What Is The Rowlatt Act?

The Rowlatt Act gave the British the power to arrest anyone found guilty of plotting to assassinate the British Raj administration. Under this act, those found involved in the British uprising could get sentenced to up to 2 years in prison without trial. Any suspects could be arrested without a warrant and detained indefinitely, and that is why the Rowlatt act was imposed.

History Of The Act

The Indians opposed the “black act”. Mahatma Gandhi, among many others, also opposed the law and organised a hartal (strike), a form of non-violent protest with the suspension of work and a hunger strike.

The hartal was scheduled for 6 April. However, in most areas, including Bombay, Ahmadabad, Nadiad and Punjab, the situation has deteriorated to the point where violence erupted. As soon as Gandhi saw that India was not ready for non-violence, he stopped the hartal.

Shortly afterwards, on 10 April, two prominent ANC leaders, Dr Satya Pal and Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew were arrested as terrorist suspects and taken to an unknown location. After this, a protest was organised in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, on 13 April, 1919. Many people from various parts of Punjab gathered for worship. They were unaware of the ban on the congregations under the Act.

Jallianwala Bagh was a walled garden with five narrow exits. As soon as people came in, General Dyer and his troops opened fire on the crowd. About 1,000 innocent people were killed and more than 1,200 injured.

In 1922, after the massacre and the report of the Oppressive Laws Committee, the Act got repealed. General Dyer was released on bail, asked to resign and not be re-employed. Thus, the black act led to one of the most devastating incidents in Indian history, claiming thousands of innocent lives.

The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place on April 13, 1919, in the days of Baisakhi, when a large group of women, men and children unaware of military law decided to gather in a park.

A peaceful protest was organised against the Rowlatt Act and the unjust imprisonment of Congress leaders in India. General Dyer instructed his men to block all openings and open fire on the peaceful assembly without warning.

The incident created tensions between the people of India and the British government. Despite the outcry, the perpetrators were freed. The massacre at Amritsar was a turning point in India’s national movement as balanced leaders lost faith in the British impartiality.

The Hunter Commission was set up to investigate the incident and criticised General Dyer’s actions. However, no punitive sentence was imposed on the General responsible for the brutal assassination.

The Hunter Commission

A committee of inquiry into the shooting of Jallianwala Bagh was set up by the government:

• On 14 October, 1919, the Government of India established the Problem Solving Committee.
• After King William Hunter, the committee was renamed the Hunter Commission and had Indian members.
• In a final report released in March 1920, the committee unanimously condemned Dyer’s actions.
• The Hunters Committee did not force anything punitive or disciplinary action against General Dyer.

National Response

• Rabindranath Tagore has renounced his heroism by protesting.
• Mahatma Gandhi abandoned the name Kaiser-i-Hind, given to the British by his work during the Boer War.
• Gandhi became disillusioned with the spirit of total violence and withdrew the movement on 18 April, 1919.
• The Indian National Congres appointed an informal committee comprising Motilal Nehru, C R Das, Abbas Tyabji, M R Jayakar and Gandhi to watch the shooting.

Congress expressed its views. The commentator criticised Dyer’s actions as inhumane and said that there was no reason for introducing military law in Punjab.

Conclusion

The Rowlatt Act was passed by the British government in 1919, during the First World War. It got named after Rowlatt Committee President Sir Sidney Rowlatt. The purpose was to quell a revolt against the British in India.

The Rowlatt Act is one of the most controversial laws passed by the British government to limit the freedom of the Indian people in the early twentieth century.

It transformed the Indian nationalist movement and gave rise to prominence in the brutal Indian liberation struggle. The bill unveiled several protests across India and led to a shocking event in Indian history: the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.