The Jallianwala Bagh massacre is one of the biggest incidents in the history of the Indian independence movement. On April 13, 1919, people gathered for a peaceful protest against the British on Baisakhi were shot dead in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar. The order to open fire was given by British Brigadier General Dyer (General Dyer), which was defended by Lieutenant Governor Michael O’Dwyer. This incident had such an impact on a young man that he made it his life’s mission to kill Governor Michael O’Dwyer and waited for 21 years to accomplish it. The entire life of Amar Shaheed Udham Singh (Shaheed Udham Singh) was spent in fulfilling this vengeance.
Udham Singh was born on 26 December 1899 in Sunam village of Sangrur district of Punjab. Udham Singh’s mother died in 1901 and his father in 1907. Udham Singh’s childhood name was Sher Singh. He got the name Udham Singh in the orphanage. His brother Mukta Singh got the name Sadhu Singh. After his brother’s death in 1917, Udham Singh joined the British Indian Army to participate in the First World War. After a falling out with his officers, he left the British Army after six months, rejoined the army in 1918, and returned to his orphanage a year later.
On 13 April 1919, on the occasion of Baisakhi, some people gathered in Jallianwala Bagh to protest against the Rowlatt Act, but the Bagh was surrounded by General Dyer’s army and Dyer ordered indiscriminate firing on the people without any warning, in which One thousand people were killed. More than 1200 people were killed and more than 1200 were injured. It has been reported at many places that Udham Singh was present in the garden at the time of firing. But it is also believed that after the incident he went to work as an orphanage worker. But this incident had a deep impact on Udham Singh’s heart which remained visible throughout his life.
After this incident, Udham Singh took the path of becoming a revolutionary. He became a member of the Ghadar Party and started involving Indians in the freedom struggle through his party Azad Party. During this time he met Bhagat Singh. He was greatly influenced by the ideology and political outlook of Bhagat Singh.
Udham Singh intended to kill General Dyer, who was responsible for the Jallianwala massacre. To fulfill his objective, he contacted the revolutionary brothers present in many countries including France, Germany, Poland, Italy, Japan, Burma. But in 1927, General Dyer died of illness before Udham Singh could make any efforts. In the same year, he was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for giving arms to the revolutionaries.
After the death of General Dyer, Udham Singh intended to kill Michael O’Dwyer, the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab at the time of the Jallianwala massacre, and after his release from jail in 1931, he went to England. There he got the opportunity after the outbreak of the Second World War and Michael O’Dwyer was among the speakers at a meeting held at the Royal Central Asian Society in London on 13 March 1940. Udham Singh reached that meeting hiding his revolver in a thick book and as soon as he got the chance, opened fire on Dyer. Dyer died on the spot and Udham Singh was arrested. On July 31, Udham Singh was sentenced to death for this murder.
