Depiction of the massacre (http://ift.tt/1kLJHUE
memorial to the victims
plaque in the garden today
April 13th 1919: Jallianwala Bagh massacre
On this day in 1919, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre occurred in the Jallianwala Bagh public garden in the Indian city of Amritsar in the Punjab region. The gathered crowd were non-violent Indian nationalists - protesting British conscription of Indians and heavy war tax - and pilgrims celebrating the holiday of Baisakhi. Fifty British soldiers, under the leadership of Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer, opened fire on the gathering; Dyer told his men to shoot to kill. The Jallianwala Bagh garden had only a few narrow entrances, and the stampedes to flee at these narrow pathways caused a number of additional deaths. A curfew was in place, and thus no-one could attend to the wounded, who were left to die overnight. The British Raj claimed 379 fatalities, but the Indian National Congress put the figure much higher at around 1,000. The brutality of the unwarranted attack, and initial praise for Dyer from the British government, caused outrage in India. The massacre seemed emblematic of the issues of rule by a foreign power, and the tragic incident is seen as an important step on the path to Indian independence.
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