British Government Must Apologize for Jallianwala Baugh Massacre
By Sumit Ganguly
In 2019, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby visited the site of a brutal massacre, Jallianwala Baugh, which happened in 1919 under British colonial rule in India and offered his personal apologies. He expressed his “deep sense of grief” for a “terrible atrocity.” The former U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May told the House of Commons that the episode was “a shameful scar on British-Indian history.” However, she stopped short of apologizing. The massacre is still remembered in India as a symbol of colonial cruelty. Here is what happened one hundred years ago.
Killing unarmed protesters After World War I, the British, who controlled a vast empire in India, agreed to give Indians limited selfgovernment due to India’s substantial contribution to the war effort. These reforms, named the MontaguChelmsford reforms after the secretary of state for India and the viceroy of India, promised to lead to more substantial self-government over time.
62
However, around the same time the British had passed the draconian Rowlatt Acts, which allowed certain political cases to be tried without trial. And the trial was also to be conducted without juries. The acts were designed to ruthlessly suppress all forms of political dissent. The Rowlatt Acts were designed to replace the constraints on political activity that had been embodied in colonial rules, known as the Defense of India Rules, which had been in force during World War I. Not surprisingly, there were widespread public protests, led by the noted Indian nationalist leader, Mahatma
APRIL 2021 - WWW.DESHVIDESH.COM
