Amritsar Massacre to The Indian Nationalist Movement
By Shreya Shah
The Amritsar Massacre also commonly known as the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre took place on April 13, 1919, during the annual Sikh festival known as Baisakhi. Thousands of civilians had gathered in a garden known as the Jallianwala Bagh. The Jallianwala Bagh was a piece of enclosed waste land belonging to the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The days preceding the massacre had been full of protests for independence. As a result, a martial order had been issued on the Jallianwala Bagh outlawing meetings of more than four men. So, when there was a meeting of more than a thousand men, one may wonder what the British reaction would be, in this case, General Dyer’s reaction.
A brutal …show more content…
However the key factor that brought the movement together was unification. Ever heard of the proverb “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. In India, the Muslims, Hindus, and the Sikhs all had a common enemy the British. The Amritsar Massacre served as a progenitor to the Indian Nationalist Movement and it rallied a country against a common …show more content…
Irish). This British anger fed the Indian nationalist movement as well. On the other hand, General Dyer also had a lot of supporters among the British who regarded him as a “saviour of Punjab” (Bell R. Irish). Many Indians were furious since a murderer was being portrayed as a hero . This brought on a sense of unity within the Indian society.
Indians once loyal to the British, now joined hands with Indian nationalists to fight against the British. Rabindranath Tagore an Indian British loyalist was disturbed by what had happened in Amritsar, so he asked the British to take away his “British title” from him, so he could go and join the Indian nationalist movement. ‘Instead of “saving India”, Dyer accelerated Indian nationalist activity’ (Toler, Pamela). The Indians had stopped believing what the British said since “all talk of reform is a mockery” (Nehru, Motilal). They had begun the process of unification against a common
By Shreya Shah
The Amritsar Massacre also commonly known as the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre took place on April 13, 1919, during the annual Sikh festival known as Baisakhi. Thousands of civilians had gathered in a garden known as the Jallianwala Bagh. The Jallianwala Bagh was a piece of enclosed waste land belonging to the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The days preceding the massacre had been full of protests for independence. As a result, a martial order had been issued on the Jallianwala Bagh outlawing meetings of more than four men. So, when there was a meeting of more than a thousand men, one may wonder what the British reaction would be, in this case, General Dyer’s reaction.
A brutal …show more content…
However the key factor that brought the movement together was unification. Ever heard of the proverb “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. In India, the Muslims, Hindus, and the Sikhs all had a common enemy the British. The Amritsar Massacre served as a progenitor to the Indian Nationalist Movement and it rallied a country against a common …show more content…
Irish). This British anger fed the Indian nationalist movement as well. On the other hand, General Dyer also had a lot of supporters among the British who regarded him as a “saviour of Punjab” (Bell R. Irish). Many Indians were furious since a murderer was being portrayed as a hero . This brought on a sense of unity within the Indian society.
Indians once loyal to the British, now joined hands with Indian nationalists to fight against the British. Rabindranath Tagore an Indian British loyalist was disturbed by what had happened in Amritsar, so he asked the British to take away his “British title” from him, so he could go and join the Indian nationalist movement. ‘Instead of “saving India”, Dyer accelerated Indian nationalist activity’ (Toler, Pamela). The Indians had stopped believing what the British said since “all talk of reform is a mockery” (Nehru, Motilal). They had begun the process of unification against a common