Massacre spurs swaraj call
TOI
detailed the British response & inquiry into Jallianwala Bagh
'tragedy' and equally closely tracked Gandhi & Nehru's fiery
speeches.
In 1919, Indians, growing increasingly impatient with British rule, received a series of shocks. The Rowlatt Act did away with legal processes for political offences, the treatment meted out to the Turkish Sultan sparked the Khilafat movement, and the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms were seen as deeply disappointing. But the biggest shock was the shooting down of unarmed protesters at Amritsar's Jallianwala Bagh on April 13 on the orders of General Reginald Dyer.
The massacre, in which 379 people, including women and children, were killed, and over 1,000 injured, generated outrage across the nation. TOI, then owned by the British, quoted Winston Churchill saying Dyer's act was wrong because "it was not the British way of doing things." It carred in full speeches on the issue in the House of Commons.
Jallianwala Bagh
For TOI, it wasn't only Jallianwala Bagh. The paper also reported Dyer's other outrageous order, the 'crawling order' which said every Indian passing through a street in which a British woman, Miss Sherwood, had been attacked, should go on all fours. "This order must have had the immediate result of seriously inconveniencing the residents of housing abutting in the street, and thereby punishing people who were prima facie innocent," TOI said.
On Dyer justifying the firing, TOI said, "Dyer looked upon the firing as his duty, though a horrible duty"
The paper reported Dyer's deposition before the inquiry committee set up to probe the massacre. A report on November 20, 1919, said Dyer had told the panel "the firing was justified." He was quoted extensively on how he'd warned people against holding meetings, how his authority had been "defied," and how "he felt his duty was to disperse the crowd by opening fire." More importantly, TOI said, "he looked upon the firing as his duty, though a horrible duty."
A Congress session attracts overwhelming crowds
A few years after the tragedy, in 1926, the paper gave voice to the Indian side, quoting Mahatma Gandhi saying "the massacre is a perpetual reminder to us that it will recur as often as we attempt to lift up our heads and desire no longer to live in bondage."
When General Dyer died in 1927, TOI on Aug 13 carried a picture of his funeral.
British PM David Cameron visited Jallianwala in 2013
From TOI archives (April 14 | 1926)
Divergent political creeds ... demonstrating unity of parties condemning the Jallianwala Bagh tragedy avenging the wrong. A message from Gandhi: "The massacre is a perpetual reminder that it'll recur as often as we attempt to lift up our heads and desire no longer to live in bondage."
In 1919, Indians, growing increasingly impatient with British rule, received a series of shocks. The Rowlatt Act did away with legal processes for political offences, the treatment meted out to the Turkish Sultan sparked the Khilafat movement, and the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms were seen as deeply disappointing. But the biggest shock was the shooting down of unarmed protesters at Amritsar's Jallianwala Bagh on April 13 on the orders of General Reginald Dyer.
The massacre, in which 379 people, including women and children, were killed, and over 1,000 injured, generated outrage across the nation. TOI, then owned by the British, quoted Winston Churchill saying Dyer's act was wrong because "it was not the British way of doing things." It carred in full speeches on the issue in the House of Commons.
Jallianwala Bagh
For TOI, it wasn't only Jallianwala Bagh. The paper also reported Dyer's other outrageous order, the 'crawling order' which said every Indian passing through a street in which a British woman, Miss Sherwood, had been attacked, should go on all fours. "This order must have had the immediate result of seriously inconveniencing the residents of housing abutting in the street, and thereby punishing people who were prima facie innocent," TOI said.
On Dyer justifying the firing, TOI said, "Dyer looked upon the firing as his duty, though a horrible duty"
The paper reported Dyer's deposition before the inquiry committee set up to probe the massacre. A report on November 20, 1919, said Dyer had told the panel "the firing was justified." He was quoted extensively on how he'd warned people against holding meetings, how his authority had been "defied," and how "he felt his duty was to disperse the crowd by opening fire." More importantly, TOI said, "he looked upon the firing as his duty, though a horrible duty."
A Congress session attracts overwhelming crowds
A few years after the tragedy, in 1926, the paper gave voice to the Indian side, quoting Mahatma Gandhi saying "the massacre is a perpetual reminder to us that it will recur as often as we attempt to lift up our heads and desire no longer to live in bondage."
When General Dyer died in 1927, TOI on Aug 13 carried a picture of his funeral.
British PM David Cameron visited Jallianwala in 2013
From TOI archives (April 14 | 1926)
Divergent political creeds ... demonstrating unity of parties condemning the Jallianwala Bagh tragedy avenging the wrong. A message from Gandhi: "The massacre is a perpetual reminder that it'll recur as often as we attempt to lift up our heads and desire no longer to live in bondage."
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