13th April 2021 marks the 102nd anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, which took place on 13th April 1919 in a public garden (Jallianwala Bagh) in Amritsar, Punjab. According to the records of the British Government around 400 people including men, women and children were killed and around 1200 were wounded in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre which is also known as the Amritsar Massacre.
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre:
i.On 13th April 1919,The British troop under the command of Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer had done the massacre on the crowd of unarmed protestors who were gathering to condemn the arrest of Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew.
ii. Following strong condemnation from Indian national leaders, the Government of British set up the Disorder Inquiry 7-member Committee under lord Hunter, a senator of the College of Justice of Scotland and criticized the acts of general Dyer, and sent him back to England.
Condemnation of national leaders:
i.After the Amritsar Massacre, Nobel Laureate Poet Rabindranath Tagore renounced his
Knighthood awarded by King George V in 1915.
ii.Mahatma Gandhi returned the Kaiser-I-Hind Gold Medal which was given to him for his
contribution during the Boer War.
Jallianwala Bagh Memorial:
i.The Jallianwala Bagh Memorial was established in 1951 by the Government of India to commemorate the Amritsar massacre.
ii.The memorial is managed by the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Trust.
“Jallianwala Bagh” authored by V N Datta:
i.On 12th April 2021, The new edition of the 1969 classic “Jallianwala Bagh: A groundbreaking history of the 1919 massacre” authored by Vishwa Nath Datta (V N Datta) was released.
ii.The book analyses the conclusion of the Hunter Commission, the debates in the London parliament and the impacts of the massacre on the freedom struggle.
- The book was republished by Penguin Random House India.
- The preface of the book is written by Nonica Datta, daughter of VN Datta.
- The interviews of VN Datta in his last days were added to the new edition.
