Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (on April 13, 1919), in which British troops fired on a large crowd of unarmed Indians in an open space known as the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar in the Punjab region of India killing thousands of innocent people. Jallianwala Bagh Massacre was a crime that stunned the nation with the scale of its brutality. Following the event, the national movement moved into a different trajectory thereon, acquiring with time an unstoppable momentum.
Yes, Jallianwala Bagh Massacre was a turning point in our freedom struggle:
- Disbelief in colonialism: The massacre unveiled the true face of British brutality. The event was condemned by all, many in Britain too.
- To most Indians, the massacre of the unarmed was a betrayal of the trust that they had placed in the British to rule them wisely, justly, and with fairness.
- Jallianwala Bagh revealed the evil that resided in the ‘enlightened’ empire.
- Movement and protest: Beginning from the non-cooperation movement and the Khilafat Movement, Indian nationalists began to demand the withdrawal of the British from India.
- United by emotion: It united the people in their struggle. Rabindranath Tagore renounced his Knighthood in protest of the Jalianwalla Bagh mass killing.
- This incident shocked the conscience of many Indians who believed in the British the idea of rule of law.
- Change in attitude: It led to a significant change in the attitude of Mahatma Gandhi and created the base for a mass movement in the form of the Non-cooperation movement which was further carried forward in the form of the civil disobedience movement and Quit India movement.
- Change in Punjab’s attitude: after the massacre at Jallianwala Bagh, Punjab witnessed different forms of violence and political resistance, which was a departure from earlier times when Punjab was largely loyal to the Empire.
- Rise of revolutionary activity:
- There was the emergence of the 2nd wave of Revolutionary Nationalism with leaders like Bhagat Singh, Chandra Sekhar Azad, and many others.
Conclusion
The incident at Jallianwala Bagh affected the course of world history, but it is the people who actually affected and led the change. The people, in fact, as Gandhi famously said, became the change they wanted to see in the world.