Indian Independence The Amritsar Massacre

In 1919 India was a major part of the British Empire. But many Indians wanted to be free from British rule and so the formed a party which wanted Indian Independence.

The British did not want to give the Indians Independence so they passed to new laws. 1) They gave the people of India some say in local government. 2) But at the same time a law was passed to allow the British to put people in prison without trial.

This meant that the British rulers and Indian people were on a collision course and this led to the infamous Amritsar Massacre.

Amritsar was a busy trading town, more importantly it was a holy city for the people of the Sikh religion.

Sunday 13th April was a holy day and thousands of people came to the city. The British General Reginald Dyer gave an order outlawing meetings of over 10 people, which meant that a confrontation was likely between the British and the Pilgrims.

That afternoon a crowd gathered in a local park That afternoon a crowd gathered in a local park. There were between 5,000-20,000 people listening to speeches about the British rulers. Then Dyer arrived with the British troops and opened fire on the crowd killing 379 people, although more may have died of their wounds.

Amritsar Massacre Task 1 Watch the video clip to get an idea of just how dreadful this incident was. I would like you think about who you think is to blame for the massacre. Is it the British soldiers and their commander or is it the Indian protesters. Amritsar Massacre Task 1

Then having watched the video you need to create a mind map of information about the Amritsar incident to prepare us for our next task. An example of a mind map is on the next slide to help you create your own. Task 2

Put these events into chronological order in your books a)April 1st 1919: General Dyer of the British army imposes martial law, banning all public mass meetings. He said that “ meetings would be “disperesed by force if necessary”. b)The East India Trading Company sets up trading posts across the country, to bring raw materials like spices and silks back to the British main land. c)April 13th 1919 thousands od Indian nationalists gather for a peaceful protest in India’s holy city of Amritsar, they are protesting about high taxes and Indian troops being conscripted into the British army in World War One. d) Dyer hears that thousand of people have gathered during the Sikh holy festival of Baisakhi , he is cross that his orders have been disobeyed. He orders troops to surround the “Golden Temple” e)Dyer orders heavily aritllery to be used tanks, machine guns and rifles. On arrival at the temple the army lock all four of the exits and entrances, trapping all that are inside f)Parts of India are taken over by the British Empire. Queen Victoria describes India as the jewel of the empire. g)One officer is over heard saying “ take your time with your aim” h)379 people were killed and 1,200 were injured, many of these were women and children i)Many Indians were inside the temple (Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus and Christians) they were listening to speeches against the British rule j)Dyer was sacked from his post as a result of the massacre and Ghandi uses this event to get momentum behind the independence movement in India, Independence was achieved in 1947. k)Dyer withdrew his troops without attending to the dead and wounded. l)Dyer can not get his tanks through the arches, so orders his troops to aim and fire using rifles. Soon after arriving the order to fire is given. Firing did not stop until 15 minutes had passed. m)Many in the square try to flee the violence. But they can not escape due to the locked gates. Many try to avoid the fire by jumping into a well, this kills many. n)David Cameron was the first British Prime Minister to visit the site of the massacre in February 2013. he said:"I think there is an enormous amount to be proud of in what the British empire did and was responsible for. But of course there were bad events as well as good events. The bad events we should learn from and the good events we should celebrate.” ( The Guardian Newspaper.) o)Dyer is placed on trial for his actions where he states” he would have killed more if his machine guns had been working” and “ it was a moral lesson to the people of India.

B F A C I D E L M H K O J N Answers

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/ amritsar-massacre-of-1919/12540.html The apology???2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hhqU ETuVuY

Time to do a radio news report. In teams of two or three you will do a news report. Bob Hale style http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ0st WPc2FY Time to do a radio news report.