Amritsar massacre: Encyclopedia II - Amritsar massacre - The massacre

Amritsar massacre - The massacre

The British and Gurkha troops marched to the park accompanied by an armoured car on which a machine gun was mounted. The vehicle was unable to enter the park compound due to the narrow entrance.

The troops were commanded by Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer who ordered his men to open fire, concentrating on the areas where the crowd was thickest. The firing started at 17:50 and lasted for about six minutes. Since there was no exit except for the one already manned by the troops, people desperately tried to climb the walls of the park. Some also jumped into a well inside the compound to escape the bullets. A plaque in the monument says that 120 bodies were plucked out of the well.

About ten minutes after the firing was over hundreds of people had been killed and thousands had been injured. Official estimates were 379 killed ( 337 men, 41 boys and a 7 week old baby) and 1200 injured, though the actual figure was almost certainly much higher; the wounded could not be moved from where they fell, as curfew had been declared. Debate about the actual figures continues to this day.

Back in his headquarters, he reported to his superiors that he had been 'confronted by a revolutionary army,' and had been obliged 'to teach a moral lesson to the Punjab.' Brigadier General Dyer's rank was non-substantive i.e only a temporary, and because he was commanding a Brigade at Jullundur. In the storm of outrage which followed, the brigadier general was placed in the inactive list. With this, the rank would be reduced to that of a Colonel, since he was not officiating the command of a Brigade. The then Commander-in-Chief did clearly mention that Dyer is unfit for further promotions, and should be in no way posted back in any Indian formation. He was ordered back to England, where he was officially asked to retire.

General Dyer said he would have used his machine guns if he could have got them into the enclosure, but these were mounted on armoured cars. He said he did not stop firing when the crowd began to disperse because he thought it was his duty to keep firing until the crowd dispersed, and that a little firing would do no good.

He confessed he did not take any steps to attend to the wounded after the firing. Certainly not. It was not my job. Hospitals were open and they could have gone there, was his response.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The massacre", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki