Remembering Jallianwala Bagh

April 13, 2023

I’ve started my three-day fast as part of this month’s optional fasting challenge. This is the annual fast against gun violence. Gandhi fasted on this date for more than a quarter century, to honor the memory of those who lost their lives under British guns in Jallianwala Bagh on April 13, 1919.

There had been tension in Amritsar, a city of 150,000 people, since the nationwide hartal the previous Sunday, April 6. Mohandas Gandhi’s attempt to travel to the region was blocked by authorities, and followed by the arrest of two local leaders. The resulting protest march led to a confrontation with police, which left at least 20 dead. There was violence on both sides; an English schoolteacher, Marcella Sherwood, was attacked by a crowd.

Martial law was declared in the city. General Reginald Dyer posted signs announcing this, in English, in a few locations around town. Word failed to spread, and on Sunday, thousands gathered for a religious festival. An enraged General Dyer gathered 50 soldiers and two armored cars equipped with machine guns, and headed to the gathering in Jallianwala Bagh, which was a community garden (bagh) during the rainy season, intending to fire on the crowd.

The area was surrounded by walls on four sides, and had only a few narrow entrances. The armored cars were unable to enter the bagh, but 50 riflemen took up position on the high ground near the main entrance. General Dyer ordered them to fire on the crowd without warning. It took ten minutes of continual firing with their bolt-action rifles to run out of ammunition; from time to time, Dyer redirected fire to where the crowd was thickest.

According to the official British report, 376 were killed, with victims as young as nine years old, and another 1200 were wounded. Unofficial reports were much higher. After all 1,650 rounds of ammunition were spent, the British left without offering any assistance to those who lay bleeding.

It took time for reports to trickle out, but when the extent of the violence became known, the whole nation was moved. General Dyer was forced to resign, and retired at half-pay. (The British public then crowdfunded £26,317 for him as a thank you for his service.)

For the rest of his life, Gandhi reminded people of the senseless slaughter, encouraging them to fast in remembrance of the the victims of gun violence on April 13th, the day all “Indians became fellow-martyrs in Jallianwala Bagh.” He kept up this commemoration until 1948, when he became a victim of gun violence himself.

What date do you remember each year?