Transcript Who was to blame for the Amritsar Massacre of 1919?
Enquiry
Who was to blame for the Amritsar Massacre of 1919?
Amritsar © HarperCollins Publishers 2010
Enquiry
Objectives
In this activity you will: Understand why the massacre took place.
Explain how the massacre ended.
Discuss different opinions about who was to blame.
© HarperCollins Publishers 2010
Enquiry
Who was to blame for the Amritsar Massacre of 1919?
At the end of World War One, Britain refused to give India Dominion Status (more independence to run their own affairs).
The Rowlatt Acts gave legal powers to the British Government within India to imprison anyone without trial who was suspected of sedition. (Sedition is when a person encourages rebellion against the government.) The Rowlatt Acts also allowed people charged for certain political crimes to be tried without a jury. © HarperCollins Publishers 2010
Enquiry
Who was to blame for the Amritsar Massacre of 1919?
The decisions by the British Government resulted in widespread protests throughout India.
The British began arresting the leaders of such protests.
In Amritsar, this resulted in rioting, and buildings were set on fire.
Brigadier-General Dyer was sent to Amritsar to restore order.
© HarperCollins Publishers 2010
Enquiry
Who was to blame for the Amritsar Massacre of 1919?
On 19 April, Brigadier-General Dyer declared martial law (martial law is when the military maintain law and order) All public meetings were banned, in the hope this would restore order. 10,000 people ignored the warnings and gathered in an area known as the ‘Jallianwala Bagh’ to protest.
Dyer sent 50 soldiers and two armoured cars to disperse the protestors.
Dyer ordered his soldiers to fire on the crowd.
Over 1670 rounds were fired: 379 people were killed and 1208 were injured.
© HarperCollins Publishers 2010
Enquiry
Who was to blame for the Amritsar Massacre of 1919?
After reading the previous slides, you may have concluded that we can identify three possible groups to blame for the massacre: 1. The British Government 2. Indian protestors 3. Dyer and his men Working in groups of three, each choose one of the above groups. Produce three different newspaper reports, each of which places the blame for the massacre on only one of the above.
Now read each others’ reports and discuss which is the most accurate/convincing in terms of explaining who was the most to blame.
© HarperCollins Publishers 2010