On the Baisakhi religious day of 13 April 1919 a large unarmed crowd of about 10 to 15 thousand gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar in a festive, celebratory mood, and to also peacefully protest the arrest of its two leaders, Dr Satyapal and Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew, who had protested against the Rowlatt Acts. Jallianwala Bagh was a large open space enclosed on three sides by high walls and buildings with only one narrow exit. Brigadier General Reginald Dyer, the military commander of Amritsar, surrounded the Bagh with his troops and armoured cars just before the sunset, closed off the exit and then ordered his soldiers to shoot into the crowd with their machine-guns and rifles, without giving the slightest warning to the peaceful crowd to disperse. The trapped crowd had nowhere to run or hide. The massacre toll: 1,200 killed, and 3,600 wounded.
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