April 13, 1919
In Amritsar, holiest city of the Sikh religion, British and Gurkha troops fired without warning and killed at least 379 and wounded another 1,200 Sikhs meeting in a park known as Jallianwala Bagh to celebrate their new year’s festival of Baisakhi Mela. A few days earlier, in reaction to a recent escalation in protests against conscription of men to the British army and high war taxes, Amritsar was placed under martial law and handed over to British Brigadier General Reginald Dyer, who banned all meetings and gatherings in the city. Dyer was relieved of his command for this brutality.
