After the Golden Temple I visited the scene of the Amritsar massacre of April 13, 1919. Brig. General Michael Dwyer of the British Indian Army ordered his 50 riflemen to fire thousands of rounds into the crowd of unarmed, non-violent protestors celebrating the Punjabi New Year. Within 10 minutes 1000 were dead, and more wounded. These people were protesting the arrest of two of their leaders. Dwyer claimed he was confronted by a 'revolutionary army' and was applauded by the British House of Lords. Winston Churchill however condemned the attack referring to it as "monstrous." A year later the Hunter Commission condemned his actions, and relieved him of his command. On March 13, 1940, in London he was assassinated by Udham Singh, who as a boy had witnessed the events in Amritsar. Sing was later hung for having assassinated Dwyer.
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| Well house where people fled to save their lives |
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Bullet holes from the 50 riflemen
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