Skip to main content
Donate to the 95 years appeal
It’s well past time the government apologised for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre – and learned its lessons for today
Continued avoidance of the murders at Amritsar in 1919 is unacceptable and insulting to the memory of the victims and their families, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE MP
HORROR: A mural showing a scene at the Jallainwala Bagh massacre in 1919, in Amritsar, India [Adam Jones / Creative Commons]

ONE hundred and four years ago on April 13 1919, the British army murdered many hundreds of peaceful demonstrators who had gathered at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar to protest against repressive laws and arbitrary arrests of independence activists. 

The troops had bottled thousands of people in a dead end so that they could not escape, before they were mercilessly gunned down.

Without any warning or provocation, Brigadier General Reginald Dyer ordered his troops to fire indiscriminately at the unarmed and defenceless crowd, killing hundreds and injuring thousands. 

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Democrat mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during a rally at the Hotel & Gaming Trades Council headquarters in New York, July 2, 2025
Features / 15 July 2025
15 July 2025

The New York mayoral candidate has electrified the US public with policies of social justice and his refusal to be cowed. We can follow his example here, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE

Palestinians women mourn people who were killed while returning from one of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution centers operated by the U.S.-backed organization, according to Nasser Hospital, during their funerals in Khan Younis, June 30
Features / 1 July 2025
1 July 2025

Israel’s monopolisation of ‘aid’ to slaughter Palestinians means there is no other option: direct international intervention now, says CLAUDIA WEBBE

Mourners carry the flag-draped coffins of five men reportedly killed in Israeli strikes, during their funeral in the city of Khorramabad, Iran, June 16, 2025
Features / 17 June 2025
17 June 2025

With missiles penetrating the air defences to strike Haifa and Tel Aviv, Netanyahu’s transparent appeal to Trump demonstrates the Israeli underestimation of Iranian retaliation, and they are desperate to drag their allies in, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE

Sherin Wafi, center, and her daughter Mira, 4, mourn during the funeral of her husband Hosam Wafi who, according to family members, was killed during an Israeli strike, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Monday, June 2, 2025
Arms Trade / 3 June 2025
3 June 2025

Starmer should not need to wait for the High Court’s decision on F-35 parts in order to do the right thing, warns CLAUDIA WEBBE

Similar stories
NOT A FULL APOLOGY: Then prime minister David Cameron visits
Features / 27 March 2025
27 March 2025
JOGINDER BAINS argues that the infamously cruel and calculated mass murder of Indians blocked into a public square and fired upon by the British Indian Army still faces a reckoning
HEAVY HANDED: Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Khalid
Features / 29 January 2025
29 January 2025
What we are seeing now in the policing of Gaza protests is a manifestation of an authoritarianism that the government intends to inflict on our country, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE
Army troops during World War One (1914-1918) and a mural of
Features / 10 November 2024
10 November 2024
NADJA LOVADINOV explains why the Peace Pledge Union is launching a new initiative to make sure that the West's colonialist past and present — and its victims — are at the heart of remembrance
Sanjida consoles her mother after receiving the remains of h
Features / 30 July 2024
30 July 2024
Support for both the students and the workers of Bangladesh is an imperative, as they fight unjust and brutal government impositions, says CLAUDIA WEBBE