RAS question
Who ordered the firing at Jallianwala Bagh?
Correct answer: (A) General Dyer.
General Reginald Dyer ordered the firing on the unarmed gathering at Jallianwala Bagh on 13 April 1919.
Explanation
Brigadier General Reginald Dyer was the officer who directly ordered the firing at Jallianwala Bagh. The Ministry of Home Affairs account describes the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, as taking place on 13 April 1919, when non-violent protesters and Baishakhi pilgrims had gathered at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab. It states that, on the orders of General Reginald Dyer, British troops opened fire on unarmed people, killing and wounding many. That is why the answer is Dyer, not Michael O'Dwyer: O'Dwyer was the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab and supported Dyer, but he was not the officer who gave the firing order at the site.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Michael O'Dwyer was the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab who supported Dyer, but the firing order itself was given by General Reginald Dyer.
- (C) Lord Irwin cannot be the answer because he was Viceroy much later, from 1926 to 1931, after the 1919 massacre.
- (D) Lord Chelmsford was the Viceroy, but the direct order to fire at Jallianwala Bagh came from General Reginald Dyer.
Concept
This tests Modern Indian History, especially colonial repression and the nationalist response around the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. RAS asks such events because they require precise attribution, not just broad familiarity with the freedom movement.