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Jallianwala Bagh, 1919: The Real Story
It has been a century since the massacre at Jallianwala Bagh, but Punjab is still to recover from the shock of it. The British Empire never did either—the impact of those bullets fired for ten minutes at an unarmed, peaceful crowd inside a community park with one narrow exit rang through its remaining years in India. Yet, the true horror of the event itself has been forgotten, as also the volatile atmosphere in Punjab at the time.
What was the catalyst for the events of that day and how did it become a turning point in India’s struggle for independence? Why did the British feel the need to impose martial law on Amritsar, which had shown little inclination for violence, despite provocation? What do we know about the individuals whose lives spun out of control on 19 April 1919, never to recover? Why did the people of Punjab suffer barbaric punishments, including public flogging, torture and even bombing, unknown to the rest of the world?
These are the questions fuelling the research that eventually gave shape to this meticulous and determined reconstruction of that crucial day, and the events which followed. Based on the reports of the Hunter Committee and the Indian National Congress, as well as other historical documents, Jallianwala Bagh, 1919: The Real Story provides a sharp analysis of General Dyer’s actions and their fallout—the official narrative and the Indian counter-narratives.
What was the catalyst for the events of that day and how did it become a turning point in India’s struggle for independence? Why did the British feel the need to impose martial law on Amritsar, which had shown little inclination for violence, despite provocation? What do we know about the individuals whose lives spun out of control on 19 April 1919, never to recover? Why did the people of Punjab suffer barbaric punishments, including public flogging, torture and even bombing, unknown to the rest of the world?
These are the questions fuelling the research that eventually gave shape to this meticulous and determined reconstruction of that crucial day, and the events which followed. Based on the reports of the Hunter Committee and the Indian National Congress, as well as other historical documents, Jallianwala Bagh, 1919: The Real Story provides a sharp analysis of General Dyer’s actions and their fallout—the official narrative and the Indian counter-narratives.
- GenresHistoryIndiaNonfiction
260 pages, Hardcover
Published October 1, 2018
19 people are currently reading
180 people want to read
About the author
Kishwar Desai
11 books43 followersKishwar Desai (née Rosha) (born 1 December 1956) is an Indian author and columnist. Her latest novel The Sea of Innocence has just been published in India and will shortly be published in UK and Australia. Her first novel, Witness the Night won the Costa Book Award in 2010 for Best First Novel and has been translated into over 25 languages. It was also shortlisted for the Author's Club First Novel Award and longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize. Her critically acclaimed novel, Origins of Love was published in June 2012. Desai also has a biography Darlingji: The True Love Story of Nargis and Sunil Dutt to her credit.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kishwar...
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kishwar...
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
December 2, 2025
This book really left me with a heavy heart, especially as I took in the full scope of the torture that the people in Punjab suffered under Dyer and O'Dwyer. The level of sadism described and the complete lack of remorse shown by those in power was honestly hard to fathom, and it made the historical weight of the events hit even harder. I found myself pausing more than once because the cruelty was presented with such unfiltered clarity that it stayed with me long after each chapter. The narrative does a strong job of showing not just the brutality itself but the systems that allowed it to happen, which added an extra layer of anger and disbelief as I read. It also highlighted the resilience of the people who lived through this, and that contrast made the horrors feel even more unbearable. Even with the heaviness of the subject, the writing kept me grounded and fully immersed, never letting me forget how real and devastating these events were. The only thing that held it back from a full five stars for me was that a few moments felt slightly repetitive in tone, but overall it was a powerful, necessary, and deeply affecting account of a tragic moment in history.
July 10, 2024
This book was heartbreaking to read. For context, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919 was carried out by the British government against the people of Punjab, during a time of protest against the colonial regime. The justifications of the protest were sickening - fake “white tear” feminism, the consistent dehumanization of Indian people (narrative of how force is needed to control) and overblown fear for European lives. It’s sickening to read the details of not just the massacre held against my people but the martial law and the daily pains subjected on them. While the book is hard to read at some points due to the way it’s written (not super well written IMO), it is extremely thoroughly researched which I appreciate. The history of my ancestors has never been well kept - I do not know the direct history of those who came before me, but I appreciate the glimpse I can get into what my great grandparents had to live through.
Conclusion: it’s sickening how there have been no consequences or real accountability even to this day for Britain’s imperialism. It’s sickening how the book and its contents remind me so much of the world today (e.g. what’s happening in Palestine). It’s sickening how these colonial countries took the moral high ground back then and even today. And it’s sickening how the rhetoric around India’s fight for freedom highlights a facade of peace and nonviolence but doesn’t highlight this - so much blood was shed then to get to where we are today. We should remember that.
Conclusion: it’s sickening how there have been no consequences or real accountability even to this day for Britain’s imperialism. It’s sickening how the book and its contents remind me so much of the world today (e.g. what’s happening in Palestine). It’s sickening how these colonial countries took the moral high ground back then and even today. And it’s sickening how the rhetoric around India’s fight for freedom highlights a facade of peace and nonviolence but doesn’t highlight this - so much blood was shed then to get to where we are today. We should remember that.
December 28, 2019
The First World War was a watershed moment in Indian history. The country wholeheartedly donated to the coffers of its imperial British masters in terms of money, material and manpower. A large number of Indian soldiers who had fought for the British had come back victorious only to find shockingly repressive measures at home. The homilies on liberty and fraternity so liberally sung by the Allied leaders found no application in India. Widespread unrest was growing up everywhere and revolutionary movements like the Ghadr party thrived. Then the government introduced a draconian law called the Rowlatt Act to muzzle dissent. Alarmed at the enormity of discretionary powers it conferred on the Executive, Indian society erupted in protest. Gandhi was looking for an opportunity to make a grand entry into Indian politics ever since his return from legal practice in South Africa. He advocated passive resistance or Satyagraha through non-violent means to take on the British. In fact, he franchised Satyagraha to local leaders who were capable of organizing the populace. Charades of non-violence were discarded almost in no time and many parts of the country were engulfed in deadly violence in which shops were forcefully closed, passengers made to alight from vehicles and walk the rest of their way as part of enforcing the total shutdown called hartal. The violence peaked in Punjab, which was a state treated as special by the British as it had contributed sixty per cent of the total Indian troops even though it possessed only 7.5 per cent of the population. Amritsar city was especially afflicted with violence. On 13 April 1919, Brigadier General Reginald Dyer led a troop of soldiers to Jallianwala Bagh where about 5000 people were peacefully assembled, though in violation of martial law regulations. He opened fire on the crowd without warning and stopped only after ten dreadful minutes, after exhausting 1650 rounds of ammunition. Official records state that 379 people lost their lives, but the actual figures are much higher. This book attempts to describe that fearful moment in the story of the struggle for Indian independence. Kishwar Desai is an author, columnist and the Chair of the trust that set up the Partition Museum at Amritsar. Before becoming a writer, she worked as a television anchor and producer for over twenty years.
Gandhi led the anti-Rowlatt Act agitation at the national level. He was not a member of the Congress and the party was not really involved in the agitation though individual members like Saifuddin Kitchlew and Satyapal organized rallies. The lack of an organizational set up greatly contributed to the confusion and the disastrous turn of events. It was only once the details of the massacre and other atrocities began to be known that Congress took part in the investigations. The Satyagraha turned violent when Gandhi was arrested at Delhi and prevented from entering Punjab. European civilians were specifically targeted in Amritsar and Ahmedabad that included women too, killing five in the former and one in the latter. Christian missions were also attacked. Ex-soldiers took part in the violence and they might have joined in the disruption of railway network and cutting of telegraph lines which were strategies used to break the communication systems of the enemy during the war. With the arrest and deportation of Kitchlew and Satyapal, the protest further intensified in Amritsar in which ten people were killed in police firing on 10 April 1919.
Brigadier General Reginald Dyer, who took charge as the military chief, replacing the more pacific MacDonald was in fact born and brought up in Shimla. He was fluent in Hindustani. Desai alleges that Dyer turned up at Amritsar on his own volition. On 10 April 1919, five Europeans were lynched by the mob and British institutions torched. Dyer was provoked at the disregard and mockery exhibited by the people who even spat on the ground in contempt of the soldiers. He wanted to punish the people for these slights and to set an example by which Indians would be morally pinned down. On 12 April, a meeting of the protestors decided to continue the civil shutdown demanding the release of Kitchlew and Satyapal. It also decided to convene a gathering at Jallianwala Bagh under the chair of Lala Kanhya Lal, a 75-year old pleader. The author goes on to suggest that Dyer persuaded a governmentspy to fix the time and venue so that he can inflict maximum intensity punishment since the Bagh is known to have only a single point for entry and exit.
What was on the agenda of the ill-fated meeting in the Bagh that was convened in violation of clear injunctions banning any public gathering of more than four persons? This was held to reassure the families of those arrested that they had the support of the inhabitants of Amritsar and that the anti-Rowlatt Act agitation would continue. On hindsight, it appears that the risk was not worth the benefits, but of course, the organizers had no means to guess the outcome beforehand as Dyer was so unpredictable. The authorities did not take any step to stop the meeting or to physically obstruct the paths. Hundreds of uniformed force was nearby, but no notices were served. A crier had proclaimed the notice of ban on meeting earlier, but it was not done in the Bagh area. Many people took their children to the meeting place as it was not thought to be of any danger and the day being the occasion of Baisakhi festival. Dyer’s massacre of the innocent people, including children, has no parallel in civilized history. For Dyer, it was not a murderous attack on defenceless people as he assumed that all the assembled was guilty of assault on the whites and it was a state of war.
If the shooting was brutal enough, its aftermath was even more horrific. After his action in the Bagh, Dyer and his team left the site, leaving the dead and wounded on the ground. Curfew was in place, so people could not move in the streets. The massacre occurred at around 4.30 pm, but some relief came only between 6 and 8 pm, when shooting orders were temporarily relaxed. Many of the wounded were left to cry in pain the whole night and several people simply bled to death. Relatives who came late to the maidan had to stay with the corpses the entire night, steeling their mind to remain deaf to the pitiful entreaties of the dying. Most of the survivors wanted to keep their presence in the Bagh a secret. Even if badly injured or mentally stressed, they didn’t go to hospitals fearing reprisals. This influenced the official death count to tilt to the lower side, which obviously didn’t include hundreds of unreported deaths. The tally of fatalities was taken only in August, four months later, and it was not until November 1919 that news of the shocking event came to be widely known as the public hearing of the Hunter Committee and Congress sub-committee started taking evidence. The organizers and the Congress party simply left the protestors to their fate. Motilal Nehru, who was in the Congress committee, wrote to his son Jawaharlal at the end of June 1919 – two months after the incident – that ‘he had seen badly decomposed bodies floating in the Jallianwala Bagh well’ (p.90). This shows that the organizers had not even bothered to properly dispose of the dead bodies even after martial law was revoked. The humiliating decrees passed by the military administrators were carefully selected to treat Indians in the most undignified manner. Crawling order was enforced in a street where a British woman missionary was assaulted. Lawyers who have been in the forefront of the Satyagraha were appointed as ‘special constables’ to maintain peace and order. Their duties involved lifting of chairs and tables and saluting the British officials irrespective of their rank.
The book presents some glimpses of shocking Indian apathy to the massacre and its perpetrators. Dyer had taken along only Indian troops, 25 Gurkhas and 25 Balochis, as he wanted to keep the blame away from British soldiers. Expecting a hand-to-hand combat if the crowd rushed at them, another 40 Gurkhas were armed only with khukris. In spite of his carnage, Dyer got himself declared as an ‘honorary Sikh’ soon after at the Golden Temple and Captain Doveton who shot a number of people in Kasur had verses composed in his favour by a Muslim poet (p.180). The author wisely does not elaborate on these, but leaves it with that single comment. It was a time of Hindu-Muslim unity since the Muslims were angry at the ill-treatment of the Sultan of Turkey, who was also the Caliph of Islam, at the hands of the British. Their bone of contention with the colonial power was due to this Turkish issue. The so-called ‘unity’ included hollow ceremonies such as drinking from the same water pot and entry into each other’s places of worship. It lasted only a few months. This book plays down the violence the protestors freely indulged in. The Hunter Committee notes that ‘low-class people, sweepers and skin-dyers etc’ were in the forefront of the processions, but Desai deems this to be showing ‘how deeply anti-Rowlatt Act agitation was taken up by the people’ (p.176).
The aftereffects of Jallianwala Bagh were anti-climactic. Gandhi did not pursue Satyagraha in Punjab and it simply fizzled out. Hunter Committee just censured Dyer, but this forced his promotion as head of a division to be revoked next year. He resigned in protest, but a large sum was collected in England through subscriptions for his benefit. Rowlatt Acts were never implemented. Accepting the reports of the Repressive Laws Committee, the act was repealed in 1922.
No large-scale view of India in the immediate aftermath of the First World War is given in the book. The narrative begins only on 10 April 1919, three days before the massacre, and the reasons which forced the government to bring in Rowlatt Act are not elucidated. Desai has extensively used Indian sources in the forceful arguments and presents a thoroughly one-sided version of events. Some of the blanket accusations are not substantiated with facts. She dispels some popular myths about the incident. There were few outsiders attending the meeting on account of the restrictions in place on movement. People did not jump into the well, but accidentally fell into it as it did not have a rim in those days. And, there were no women victims involved. There are no index and bibliography. Interested readers can take down the book titles referred in the foot notes.
The book is recommended.
Gandhi led the anti-Rowlatt Act agitation at the national level. He was not a member of the Congress and the party was not really involved in the agitation though individual members like Saifuddin Kitchlew and Satyapal organized rallies. The lack of an organizational set up greatly contributed to the confusion and the disastrous turn of events. It was only once the details of the massacre and other atrocities began to be known that Congress took part in the investigations. The Satyagraha turned violent when Gandhi was arrested at Delhi and prevented from entering Punjab. European civilians were specifically targeted in Amritsar and Ahmedabad that included women too, killing five in the former and one in the latter. Christian missions were also attacked. Ex-soldiers took part in the violence and they might have joined in the disruption of railway network and cutting of telegraph lines which were strategies used to break the communication systems of the enemy during the war. With the arrest and deportation of Kitchlew and Satyapal, the protest further intensified in Amritsar in which ten people were killed in police firing on 10 April 1919.
Brigadier General Reginald Dyer, who took charge as the military chief, replacing the more pacific MacDonald was in fact born and brought up in Shimla. He was fluent in Hindustani. Desai alleges that Dyer turned up at Amritsar on his own volition. On 10 April 1919, five Europeans were lynched by the mob and British institutions torched. Dyer was provoked at the disregard and mockery exhibited by the people who even spat on the ground in contempt of the soldiers. He wanted to punish the people for these slights and to set an example by which Indians would be morally pinned down. On 12 April, a meeting of the protestors decided to continue the civil shutdown demanding the release of Kitchlew and Satyapal. It also decided to convene a gathering at Jallianwala Bagh under the chair of Lala Kanhya Lal, a 75-year old pleader. The author goes on to suggest that Dyer persuaded a governmentspy to fix the time and venue so that he can inflict maximum intensity punishment since the Bagh is known to have only a single point for entry and exit.
What was on the agenda of the ill-fated meeting in the Bagh that was convened in violation of clear injunctions banning any public gathering of more than four persons? This was held to reassure the families of those arrested that they had the support of the inhabitants of Amritsar and that the anti-Rowlatt Act agitation would continue. On hindsight, it appears that the risk was not worth the benefits, but of course, the organizers had no means to guess the outcome beforehand as Dyer was so unpredictable. The authorities did not take any step to stop the meeting or to physically obstruct the paths. Hundreds of uniformed force was nearby, but no notices were served. A crier had proclaimed the notice of ban on meeting earlier, but it was not done in the Bagh area. Many people took their children to the meeting place as it was not thought to be of any danger and the day being the occasion of Baisakhi festival. Dyer’s massacre of the innocent people, including children, has no parallel in civilized history. For Dyer, it was not a murderous attack on defenceless people as he assumed that all the assembled was guilty of assault on the whites and it was a state of war.
If the shooting was brutal enough, its aftermath was even more horrific. After his action in the Bagh, Dyer and his team left the site, leaving the dead and wounded on the ground. Curfew was in place, so people could not move in the streets. The massacre occurred at around 4.30 pm, but some relief came only between 6 and 8 pm, when shooting orders were temporarily relaxed. Many of the wounded were left to cry in pain the whole night and several people simply bled to death. Relatives who came late to the maidan had to stay with the corpses the entire night, steeling their mind to remain deaf to the pitiful entreaties of the dying. Most of the survivors wanted to keep their presence in the Bagh a secret. Even if badly injured or mentally stressed, they didn’t go to hospitals fearing reprisals. This influenced the official death count to tilt to the lower side, which obviously didn’t include hundreds of unreported deaths. The tally of fatalities was taken only in August, four months later, and it was not until November 1919 that news of the shocking event came to be widely known as the public hearing of the Hunter Committee and Congress sub-committee started taking evidence. The organizers and the Congress party simply left the protestors to their fate. Motilal Nehru, who was in the Congress committee, wrote to his son Jawaharlal at the end of June 1919 – two months after the incident – that ‘he had seen badly decomposed bodies floating in the Jallianwala Bagh well’ (p.90). This shows that the organizers had not even bothered to properly dispose of the dead bodies even after martial law was revoked. The humiliating decrees passed by the military administrators were carefully selected to treat Indians in the most undignified manner. Crawling order was enforced in a street where a British woman missionary was assaulted. Lawyers who have been in the forefront of the Satyagraha were appointed as ‘special constables’ to maintain peace and order. Their duties involved lifting of chairs and tables and saluting the British officials irrespective of their rank.
The book presents some glimpses of shocking Indian apathy to the massacre and its perpetrators. Dyer had taken along only Indian troops, 25 Gurkhas and 25 Balochis, as he wanted to keep the blame away from British soldiers. Expecting a hand-to-hand combat if the crowd rushed at them, another 40 Gurkhas were armed only with khukris. In spite of his carnage, Dyer got himself declared as an ‘honorary Sikh’ soon after at the Golden Temple and Captain Doveton who shot a number of people in Kasur had verses composed in his favour by a Muslim poet (p.180). The author wisely does not elaborate on these, but leaves it with that single comment. It was a time of Hindu-Muslim unity since the Muslims were angry at the ill-treatment of the Sultan of Turkey, who was also the Caliph of Islam, at the hands of the British. Their bone of contention with the colonial power was due to this Turkish issue. The so-called ‘unity’ included hollow ceremonies such as drinking from the same water pot and entry into each other’s places of worship. It lasted only a few months. This book plays down the violence the protestors freely indulged in. The Hunter Committee notes that ‘low-class people, sweepers and skin-dyers etc’ were in the forefront of the processions, but Desai deems this to be showing ‘how deeply anti-Rowlatt Act agitation was taken up by the people’ (p.176).
The aftereffects of Jallianwala Bagh were anti-climactic. Gandhi did not pursue Satyagraha in Punjab and it simply fizzled out. Hunter Committee just censured Dyer, but this forced his promotion as head of a division to be revoked next year. He resigned in protest, but a large sum was collected in England through subscriptions for his benefit. Rowlatt Acts were never implemented. Accepting the reports of the Repressive Laws Committee, the act was repealed in 1922.
No large-scale view of India in the immediate aftermath of the First World War is given in the book. The narrative begins only on 10 April 1919, three days before the massacre, and the reasons which forced the government to bring in Rowlatt Act are not elucidated. Desai has extensively used Indian sources in the forceful arguments and presents a thoroughly one-sided version of events. Some of the blanket accusations are not substantiated with facts. She dispels some popular myths about the incident. There were few outsiders attending the meeting on account of the restrictions in place on movement. People did not jump into the well, but accidentally fell into it as it did not have a rim in those days. And, there were no women victims involved. There are no index and bibliography. Interested readers can take down the book titles referred in the foot notes.
The book is recommended.
January 28, 2019
A fact based study of the events surrounding jallianwala bagh massacre.
Eye witness accounts of the massacre will make the reader cry and burn with rage.
A well rounded study of the pre and post massacre events brings out the real villains as well as
the forgotten heroes. The book transported me to the past.
This book must be read by every Indian.
It will teach the reader what it truly means to have and live with freedom.
Eye witness accounts of the massacre will make the reader cry and burn with rage.
A well rounded study of the pre and post massacre events brings out the real villains as well as
the forgotten heroes. The book transported me to the past.
This book must be read by every Indian.
It will teach the reader what it truly means to have and live with freedom.
August 15, 2024
Among a host of turning points in the history of modern India few events are as conspicuous as the Jallianwala Bagh catastrophe. To modern Indian memory it is exactly what the "Black Hole" tragedy of Calcutta was for the Victorian Englishmen. Both events are progressively contained by sentiment and swathed in a muddle of historical explanations.
Kishwar Desai, has in this small and unassuming tome presented the most well-adjusted account of the massacre itself and the events leading up to it. Desai has demarcated the latitude of her investigation in the following words: “What I have tried to do in this book is to piece together what really happened on 13 April 1919 as well as before and after, using commonly the words of the survivors and recorded statements recounting those alarming events. Also, as far as possible, I have used Indian sources and perspectives since for far too long (with a few exceptions), this narrative has been told by Western historians.”
The book contains the following chapters:
1) A State of War
2) A Gift of Fortune
3) Counting the Corpses
4) The Fancy Punishments
5) Fascist, Racist or Both?
6) ‘You Cannot Kill a Tiger Gently’
There was a distressing reign of terror in Punjab, which ranged from two months in some districts to over four months in others. During this period, people were whipped, bombed, enslaved, forced to crawl, famished, beaten, caged—and even abruptly executed. However, the collective carnages led to a watershed in the freedom struggle; collating every anti-British force organized for the first time.
The events prior to the massacre also validate the evolving prominence of Punjab in the freedom struggle. These were still early years and there was no united effort against the British. In terms of political leadership, this narrative is controlled by a few leaders working in their singular capacities and not as leaders of the Congress Party, which was the leading party at the time. The massacre on 19 April was part of a strategy of domination set free by O’Dwyer against the recurrent ‘hartals’ or the Satyagraha Movement.
Desai inspects the question the imports of the event in perceptive detail. We get more than a comprehensive idea of the upshot of the massacre on the city of Amritsar, and on the lives of those involved. The author presents a bundle of data on how the local politics changed, if at all, and what happened to noticeable local figures, such as Dr. Satyapal, Lala Duni Chand, Mahasha Rattan Chand, and Saif-ud-Din Kitchlew. She dwells on the manner in which the massacre affected the nationalist movement beyond barbarity and horror. Undoubtedly, the Rowlatt Act had already
led Indians into the streets to protest. Already Gandhi and noncooperation had come to the fore of the nationalist movement. Jallianwala Bagh enhanced these developments.
The author hits the nail on its head when she says: ”It would have suited the British perfectly to lay the blame at Dyer’s door. They would not have wanted to reveal what is now obvious as I write this book: that the regime of Lieutenant Governor Sir O’Dwyer was racist and cruel, and apparently adept at manipulating ‘Orientals’. Of course, he was no different from many others who were constantly resisting reforms, could not tolerate the induction of Indians into the administration and felt that only the British could rule India—and that, too, with force…”
This volume will be tremendously beneficial as an overview for learners of modern Indian history. The author must be acknowledged for locating more than a few facts, which have previously remained uncharted by other scholars. While existing views of Jallianwala Bagh have not been momentously transformed, we can assume that this book’s construal of these events will stand unimpeded lest all-encompassing fresh substantiation can be positioned or till different queries are raised concerning the impact of Jallianwala in regional and local history.
Most recommended.
Kishwar Desai, has in this small and unassuming tome presented the most well-adjusted account of the massacre itself and the events leading up to it. Desai has demarcated the latitude of her investigation in the following words: “What I have tried to do in this book is to piece together what really happened on 13 April 1919 as well as before and after, using commonly the words of the survivors and recorded statements recounting those alarming events. Also, as far as possible, I have used Indian sources and perspectives since for far too long (with a few exceptions), this narrative has been told by Western historians.”
The book contains the following chapters:
1) A State of War
2) A Gift of Fortune
3) Counting the Corpses
4) The Fancy Punishments
5) Fascist, Racist or Both?
6) ‘You Cannot Kill a Tiger Gently’
There was a distressing reign of terror in Punjab, which ranged from two months in some districts to over four months in others. During this period, people were whipped, bombed, enslaved, forced to crawl, famished, beaten, caged—and even abruptly executed. However, the collective carnages led to a watershed in the freedom struggle; collating every anti-British force organized for the first time.
The events prior to the massacre also validate the evolving prominence of Punjab in the freedom struggle. These were still early years and there was no united effort against the British. In terms of political leadership, this narrative is controlled by a few leaders working in their singular capacities and not as leaders of the Congress Party, which was the leading party at the time. The massacre on 19 April was part of a strategy of domination set free by O’Dwyer against the recurrent ‘hartals’ or the Satyagraha Movement.
Desai inspects the question the imports of the event in perceptive detail. We get more than a comprehensive idea of the upshot of the massacre on the city of Amritsar, and on the lives of those involved. The author presents a bundle of data on how the local politics changed, if at all, and what happened to noticeable local figures, such as Dr. Satyapal, Lala Duni Chand, Mahasha Rattan Chand, and Saif-ud-Din Kitchlew. She dwells on the manner in which the massacre affected the nationalist movement beyond barbarity and horror. Undoubtedly, the Rowlatt Act had already
led Indians into the streets to protest. Already Gandhi and noncooperation had come to the fore of the nationalist movement. Jallianwala Bagh enhanced these developments.
The author hits the nail on its head when she says: ”It would have suited the British perfectly to lay the blame at Dyer’s door. They would not have wanted to reveal what is now obvious as I write this book: that the regime of Lieutenant Governor Sir O’Dwyer was racist and cruel, and apparently adept at manipulating ‘Orientals’. Of course, he was no different from many others who were constantly resisting reforms, could not tolerate the induction of Indians into the administration and felt that only the British could rule India—and that, too, with force…”
This volume will be tremendously beneficial as an overview for learners of modern Indian history. The author must be acknowledged for locating more than a few facts, which have previously remained uncharted by other scholars. While existing views of Jallianwala Bagh have not been momentously transformed, we can assume that this book’s construal of these events will stand unimpeded lest all-encompassing fresh substantiation can be positioned or till different queries are raised concerning the impact of Jallianwala in regional and local history.
Most recommended.
May 28, 2021
Jallianwala Bagh 1919 - Real story by Kishwar Desai
We would have read about Jallianwala Bagh in our history books very vaguely,passed our exams but this books gives insight about political game played, vengeance, amritsar people life after massacre and true colors of the people who played same side goal.
Book explains the situation of Amritsar from 10 april 1919 ie before the Jallianwala Bagh massacre , 13 April 1919. It was declared as a war zone ( but war zone between whom - unarmed people against a group of trained shooters. How this can be claimed as war)
On the Eve of Baisakhi festival, a group gathered in a park expecting Kanyal Lal, a lawyer and leader to people in Amritsar but actually it was fooled by British so that maximum people be gathered so that general Dyer can take vengeance.There were no warning by the officials to the group to disperse smoothly instead they start shooting at the first sight.This general Dyer claims as perfect shot. The most cruel thing is 'London newspaper' mentioned about the instance only in December 1919 when it actually happened on April 1919.
Why this vengeance?? Read the book and get the clear picture of the situation by yourself.
There were many brutal acts by British but below were few instances that stayed in my mind strong
- young boys were whipped for not greeting or Salaaming the white Sahibs
- beating innocents to admit false witness, so that the people whom the British were feared off be in jail for ever
- crawling act. People were made to crawl on their stomach to cross a road .how this can be a fact of law and order
- there was a statement from Dyer that women were treated sacred. Huh that's why he brutally killed Indian ladies and patted his shoulders as merciful act to maintained the decorum
- the deads of massacre were not allowed to cremate peacefully
- no electricity, no water supply to the city for so many days after massacre.
and many more.
Author has made good research, explained the scenes very deeply and whoever reads it will definitely feel the freedom struggle of our leaders. Only few leaders are known to us and many heros sacrifices are not even recorded. Definitely a must read book !!
We would have read about Jallianwala Bagh in our history books very vaguely,passed our exams but this books gives insight about political game played, vengeance, amritsar people life after massacre and true colors of the people who played same side goal.
Book explains the situation of Amritsar from 10 april 1919 ie before the Jallianwala Bagh massacre , 13 April 1919. It was declared as a war zone ( but war zone between whom - unarmed people against a group of trained shooters. How this can be claimed as war)
On the Eve of Baisakhi festival, a group gathered in a park expecting Kanyal Lal, a lawyer and leader to people in Amritsar but actually it was fooled by British so that maximum people be gathered so that general Dyer can take vengeance.There were no warning by the officials to the group to disperse smoothly instead they start shooting at the first sight.This general Dyer claims as perfect shot. The most cruel thing is 'London newspaper' mentioned about the instance only in December 1919 when it actually happened on April 1919.
Why this vengeance?? Read the book and get the clear picture of the situation by yourself.
There were many brutal acts by British but below were few instances that stayed in my mind strong
- young boys were whipped for not greeting or Salaaming the white Sahibs
- beating innocents to admit false witness, so that the people whom the British were feared off be in jail for ever
- crawling act. People were made to crawl on their stomach to cross a road .how this can be a fact of law and order
- there was a statement from Dyer that women were treated sacred. Huh that's why he brutally killed Indian ladies and patted his shoulders as merciful act to maintained the decorum
- the deads of massacre were not allowed to cremate peacefully
- no electricity, no water supply to the city for so many days after massacre.
and many more.
Author has made good research, explained the scenes very deeply and whoever reads it will definitely feel the freedom struggle of our leaders. Only few leaders are known to us and many heros sacrifices are not even recorded. Definitely a must read book !!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 15, 2023
Book - Jallianwala Bagh, 1919 (The real story)
Author - Kishwar Desai
This book begins at the point when Amritsar was declared a war zone around 11 April, because the reader must understand the claustrophobic conditions that the residents of Amritsar were living in at the time. If we obliterate the sacrifice of those who were at the Jallianwala Bagh (by assuming that they were
there, accidentally, for the Baisakhi festival), we also continue to disregard the humiliations that the survivors had to endure. Some of those frightful conditions were already in place before the mass murder took place.
Knowing the context also helps us understand more clearly the heroism and courage of those who gathered that evening at Jallianwala Bagh. They knew that they could be killed at any moment yet, they had faith that the British would respect their rights as citizens to attend a public meeting. That faith was to be forever lost.
Has this amnesia been deliberate, and did the people of Punjab simply forget to move on (as happened three decades later with the Partition)? Or was the attempt to rewrite
history, by focusing on one event and just one individual, i.e. Dyer, a political move?
We will remember 13th April 1919.
Author - Kishwar Desai
This book begins at the point when Amritsar was declared a war zone around 11 April, because the reader must understand the claustrophobic conditions that the residents of Amritsar were living in at the time. If we obliterate the sacrifice of those who were at the Jallianwala Bagh (by assuming that they were
there, accidentally, for the Baisakhi festival), we also continue to disregard the humiliations that the survivors had to endure. Some of those frightful conditions were already in place before the mass murder took place.
Knowing the context also helps us understand more clearly the heroism and courage of those who gathered that evening at Jallianwala Bagh. They knew that they could be killed at any moment yet, they had faith that the British would respect their rights as citizens to attend a public meeting. That faith was to be forever lost.
Has this amnesia been deliberate, and did the people of Punjab simply forget to move on (as happened three decades later with the Partition)? Or was the attempt to rewrite
history, by focusing on one event and just one individual, i.e. Dyer, a political move?
We will remember 13th April 1919.
February 24, 2021
Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, 1919, The real story is a picturesquely written and strongly corroborated by facts literature about a historic incident in colonial India which shook the conscience of the people of Hindustan.
The USP of this book on Jalianwala Bagh massacre is that within few hundred pages the author has unraveled the story in a layman's words.
For the detailed article you can visit my website- https://dontbignorant.in/jallianwala-...
The USP of this book on Jalianwala Bagh massacre is that within few hundred pages the author has unraveled the story in a layman's words.
For the detailed article you can visit my website- https://dontbignorant.in/jallianwala-...
June 25, 2025
This is a detailed plot of what transpired in Punjab in days just prior and in the aftermath of the Jallianwala Massacre. Quite detailed and scholarly book in that regard. Also it has compared the situation in Punjab to other areas of india and differences in British response to them.
Also at the fag end of the book, the way difference in support of Dyer in English people in India and back home has been compared brilliantly.
Also at the fag end of the book, the way difference in support of Dyer in English people in India and back home has been compared brilliantly.
March 8, 2020
While it is needless to say what happened at Jallianwala Bagh on 13th April 1919 was barbaric and utterly inhuman, Kishwar takes us through the incidents that led to it and also the monstrous conditions that were imposed on the general mass post the incident not only in Amritsar but throughout the Punjab province.
March 17, 2020
Audible
The narration lacked emotions. It appeared more like a documentary rather than a book
The narration lacked emotions. It appeared more like a documentary rather than a book
December 15, 2021
Kishwar Desai has given comprehensive details of the Jalianwala Bagh Massacre, the incidents leading to it and its aftermath. It is a must read book for all those interested in Indian History.
January 23, 2022
No words.
April 26, 2022
After a century; an account of a true massacre of Jallianwala Bagh was published. A must-read for every indian, what Britishers have done to us.
October 17, 2022
Superb.
Long Live Revolution... Down with Imperialism...
Long Live Revolution... Down with Imperialism...
October 17, 2025
A well researched book on the mayhem and extreme atrocities committed by the British in Punjab in year 1919.
Read
January 10, 2020Good topic, narrative lacks structure
April 4, 2019
It's a historical document stating facts of massacre that had happened in 1919 at Jallianwala baug in Amritsar, Punjab, India as General Dyer sprayed bullets for almost 10 minutes on innocent masses who were gathered there. The book is replete with lots of research stating hunter committee (HC) report, Indian National Congress (INC) report & citing many other publications references as to what really happened & the events followed there after in that part of Punjab. The general atmosphere in the time of British Raj, the unnecessary humiliation, public flogging & torture that Indians have to go thru in their on country by English people, in Punjab was stated with academic details as matter of fact. I didn't enjoy the book much for the simple fact that these facts as described made my blood boil, feeling for the fellow countrymen. It's a natural reaction one can feel for any citizens suffering in their own country invaded by foreigners. I was moved by the letter by Rabindra Nath Tagore, printed at the end pages of book, who has released his knighthood initially bequeathed to him by British, condemning the atrocities brought upon innocent Indian citizens. The book is well researched & well put together as referred resource material. 03 stars.
December 4, 2019
Kishwar Desai's quest to find the truth opens a pandora's box on the conspiracy that was Jallianwala Bagh as against a one off incident led by the madness of Dyer, that it is generally known to be.
Kishwar has done her research on the massacre that truly is comparable to hitler's killings of the Jews. Her interrogative writing throws lights on the series of incidents that declared Amritsar a war zone by the British and made them design Jallianwala Bagh as a "lesson" for Punjab & the nation to not fight back the English tyranny.
A good book and highly recommended for history lovers.
Kishwar has done her research on the massacre that truly is comparable to hitler's killings of the Jews. Her interrogative writing throws lights on the series of incidents that declared Amritsar a war zone by the British and made them design Jallianwala Bagh as a "lesson" for Punjab & the nation to not fight back the English tyranny.
A good book and highly recommended for history lovers.
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