Monday, September 16, 2019
Martial Law - The extent of British brutality
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre ignited the Punjab government by not silencing it. The massacre of 13 April spread terrible terror not only in Amritsar but also in other cities of Punjab. Nevertheless, Punjab Lt. Governor thought it necessary that martial law or military law should be imposed in Amritsar and some other places. He asked the Governor General's permission to declare martial law, which was immediately met. One day got questioned. The state of law ended in Amritsar in the morning of 15 April and the entire city came under the control of the army. Martial law was imposed in Lahore on the same day.
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| Martial Law |
Martial Law Fear Orders (ORDERS)
How the residents of Amritsar were martyred in martial law, the answer will be found by the orders which were propagated there by the military officers. Some of those orders were as follows.
- In the market where Miss Sherwood was traumatized, people were stamped to kill people and the order was promulgated that whichever Indian would pass through it would crawl on the stomach and not stand up.
- It was ordered that every Indian should salute the British officer when he comes.
- A little bit was spent on everything. Many poor people fainted while eating.
- All the lawyers of the city were made special constables and worked day and night.
- Arrest, handcuffs, big and untreated, closing in the prison cell in the fort, etc. were considered simple punishments which even a lower rank officer could give unrestrained.
- All courts were dissolved.
As strict as these commands were, they were used even more harshly. The street, which was said to be compulsory for Indians to move through the stomach, was 150 yards long. Whether it is small or big, young or old, the purpose of going is to go to get water or to bring medicine for someone sick at home - crawling was mandatory. At the time of crawling, the barrel of the gun was on the back. Just stopped that Gore soldier stumbled. This inhuman commandment was used on about 50 men.
The disturbance in the city was disturbed on 12 April itself. On April 13, the massacre took place on behalf of General Dyer. The shops opened on 15 April. In this way, the occasion of peace came in general, but a fire of revenge had arisen in the hearts of the British officers and it was not going to calm down. To accomplish this, martial law was implemented and it continued till 9 June.
Martial law was issued in Lahore on 16 April. Colonel Johnson was the chief officer of this law in Lahore. Martial law was also imposed in places like Kasur, Gujranwala, Najirabad, Nizamabad, Akalgarh, Ramnagar, Hafizabad, Sanglahil, Nawapind, Gujarat, Jalalpur etc. and inhuman hardness was used. Each dictator officer of martial law tried to defeat each other in the harshness of atrocities. Some orders were such that they surprised even the British living in England.