On 13th of April 1919, the infamous Jallianwala Bagh incident took place. But the reasons behind this were very sensitive to the Indian freedom struggle and though cruel.
Gandhiji in 1919, decided to launch nationwide satyagraha against the proposal of Rowlatt act (1919). This act had been hurriedly passed through the imperial legislative council despite of the united opposition of the Indian members. The Rowlatt act gave the British government enormous power to repress the ongoing political activities, and also allowed to imprison the political influencing person for two years without any mercy. Mahatma Gandhi wanted non-violent civil disobedience movement against such unjust laws. Many rallies were organized in various cities. The workers went on strike and shops and railways and officials were shut down. After hearing of the sudden boom in the movement British administration decided to clamp down the nationalists.
Local leaders were picked up from Amritsar and Mahatma Gandhi was barred from entering Delhi. On 10th April, the police fired upon a peaceful protest in Amritsar which led to attacks on banks , post offices , and railway stations. After those attacks by the protestors, 'Martial law' was imposed and General Dyer took the command.
On 13th April, a large crowd gathered in the enclosed ground of Jallianwala Bagh. some had gathered to protest against the government's new repressive policies and many had came to attend the annual Baisakhi fair. The place where Jallianwala Bagh was located was far from the city. Being from outside the city, many villagers were unaware of the martial law imposed.
General Dyer entered the Jallianwala bagh, block all the exit points and opened fire on the crowd. Hundreds were killed in the firing. Many of them jumped into the well inside there, to save their life. But consecutively many of them jumped into the well so they couldn't survive even in the well. This led to the death of thousands instead.
This was a very painful incident in the page of Indian History. Frequently after this incident spread, crowds gathered on streets in many North Indian towns. There were strikes, clashes, with government officials and attacks on government buildings. While the Rowlatt Satyagraha had been a widespread movement, it was still limited mostly to cities and towns. Then, ,Mahatma Gandhi felt the need to launch a more broad based movement in India.
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