The Events at Amritsar as the Catalysator the Movement for Freedom of India
Gandhi advocated protest without the use of violent acts because he believed in the religious concept of ‘Ahimsa’, meaning ‘doing no harm’. Gandhi believed that protesting peacefully would assist the Indians in their fight for freedom and independence from the British simply by showing colonizers that as they were doing no harm, the Indians deserved to be treated well. Another reason Gandhi was an advocate of peaceful protest was due to the fact that he also believed in Satyagraha, meaning to protest with acts of non-cooperation rather than with acts of violence.
The Amritsar massacre occurred on the 13th of April 1919, when thousands of Indians ignored the recently emplaced Rowlett Acts which limited Indian’s rights of the freedom of speech and acts of protest by crowding into an area known as the Bagh and protesting. The crowd consisted of approximately 20,000 Indian men, women, and children. A British General, Reginald Dyer, and 90 soldiers surrounded the gathering and opened fire at them. 379 Indians were killed that day, whilst there were an estimated 1200 others wounded or injured.
Upon hearing of the slaughtering, Gandhi was outraged at the way his people were killed. In protest, Gandhi gave back all his medals and honors back to the British that he had previously earnt in World War One. He encouraged for his people to boycott all British companies, particularly those who sold cotton and wool, and also stop working for any companies of the British. These are all acts of Satyagraha which Gandhi was a strong believer of.
Many members of the Indian National Congress and Jawaharlal Nehru, later to be the First Prime Minister of India after its independence, also found deep abhorrence within the British in the aftermath of the massacre. Now the fight for India’s freedom was at its strongest, with thousands of Indians set on ending British rule over India, and finally, Independence.
The reactions of the massacre definitely assisted India in its pursuit for liberation after 200 years of British control. This is since Indians then despised the British, they viewed them as ‘satanic’. This hatred created by Amritsar then created the desire between the people of India for the independence of their country. They were motivated and willing to fight against the British in whatever way appropriate and the very wish of freedom, at last, was unified between all Indians.
11 years later was when what is known as ‘the Salt March’ took place. This very act of civil disobedience as a result of the recently emplaced Salt Laws across India. This restricted Indians from collecting, producing, and selling salt. Again, these laws obviously angered Gandhi, who described the new constraints against Indians and salt ‘unfair’ and argued that salt was actually essential for a person’s health. Gandhi then organized a march of 70 freedom fighters, including himself, and walked 240 miles from Ahmedabad to Dandi. Across his march, an estimated 50,000 Indians joined the act of non-cooperation with the British. At the end of the protest in Dandi, Gandhi picked up salt off the beach and spoke of how he would then ‘Shake the foundation of the British Empire.’ Over 80,000 Indians and Gandhi himself were arrested as the aftermath of the non-violent protest. Gandhi was soon later released and bought to Britain where discussions of potential reforms in India took place.
The Indians who participated in the march alongside Gandhi soon realized that they could obtain freedom at last and the British military could not possibly arrest them all due to the fact the prisons simply could not capacitate for the thousands of protesters and who took part and simultaneously convicts. This sparked hope between Indians to fight further for their independence.
The Salt March and its aftermath certainly helped India achieve independent rule. This is due to the realization of millions that if they kept an active pursuit of the goal, using acts of satyagraha, it could actually result in the end of British Rule in India because it was evident that the British were buckling and retaliating against the sheer force the Indians had with their non-violent protests. There is also the fact that Gandhi was summoned to London to attend talks of reforms in India that too helped India gain its independence in 1947.
In conclusion, I believe that both the aftermath of the Amritsar Massacre and the Salt March together had both equal weight in the balance toward India’s independent rule. The events at Amritsar catalyzed the movement for freedom of India with many Indians than with feelings of hatred and abhorrence towards the British. However, the Salt March, was equally as important as Amritsar, but the aftermath of it led to discussions back in England with Gandhi of reformation in India, it also brought light to the end of the tunnel for many Indians because they now realized the British had to surrender at some point in the near future.
