Anti - Rowlatt Satyagraha - General Knowledge of Modern India

Anti - Rowlatt Satyagraha - General Knowledge of Modern India

Mahatma Gandhi campaigned against the Rowlatt Act and founded the Satyagraha Sabha on 24 February 1919 in Bombay. During the anti-Rowlatt satyagraha, Mahatma Gandhi said that "It is my firm belief that we will attain liberation only through struggle and not by the reforms being offered to us by the British". After the Jallianwala Bagh massacre that took place on April 13, 1919, the anti - Rowlatt satyagraha lost its momentum. This movement was against restrictions on the freedom of the press and incarceration without trial.

Read More History: Individual Satyagraha - General Knowledge of Modern India

 The Rowlatt Act gave powers to the British to suspend the right of habeas corpus. This worried the national leaders and they started protests against this repressive act. The country witnessed a wonderful political awakening during March-April 1919. Strikes, dharnas, protests were organised. In Amritsar, on 9 April, local leaders Satyapal and Kitchlew were imprisoned. Due to the arrest of these local leaders, the symbols of British rule were attacked and on 11 April Martial Law was imposed under the leadership of General Dyer.

On April 13, 1919, a peaceful and unarmed crowd (which mostly consisted of villagers who had come from nearby villages to celebrate Baisakhi festival) to listen to a public meeting in a nearly closed ground (Jallianwala Bagh), despite the ban on public meetings, gathered, who were brutally murdered without warning. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre shocked the entire nation and instigated the minds of the patriots for fierce vengeance. Due to the violent atmosphere, Gandhiji considered it a mistake like the Himalayas and withdrew the movement on 18 April.