Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919, 101 year ago when Acting Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer ordered troops of the British Indian Army to fire their rifles into a crowd of unarmed Indian civilians[3] in Jallianwala BaghAmritsarPunjab, killing at least 400 people including men and women. Over 1,000 people were injured.

On Sunday, 13 April 1919, Dyer, convinced a major insurrection could take place, banned all meetings. This notice was not widely disseminated, and many villagers gathered in the Bagh to celebrate the important Sikh festival of Baisakhi, and peacefully protest the arrest and deportation of two national leaders, Satyapal and Saifuddin Kitchlew. Dyer and his troops entered the garden, blocking the main entrance behind them, took up position on a raised bank, and with no warning opened fire on the crowd for about ten minutes, directing their bullets largely towards the few open gates through which people were trying to flee, until the ammunition supply was almost exhausted. The following day Dyer stated in a report that “I hear that between 200 and 300 of the crowd were killed. My party fired 1,650 rounds”