Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew, two Congress leaders leading protests as part of the anti-Rowlatt agitation, are arrested and secretly taken to Dharamsala. The protests in Punjab and police retaliation that follows their arrest is widespread. A Christian missionary Marcella Sherwood is attacked during one of the violent protests.

Troops under the command of Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer fire at a peaceful protest against the arrest of two local Congress leaders in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, killing a large number of civilians and injuring many more. Martial law is declared in the Punjab. The Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre intensifies anti-British sentiments and the struggle for independence.

The Hunter Committee (also known as the Disorders Inquiry Committee) is set up to look into the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre in particular and the unrest and disturbances across India in general. Its report, released in 1920, exonerates the British Government and holds Brig Gen Dyer responsible for the massacre. The majority report notes that Dyer’s intention was to ‘create a moral effect throughout the Punjab’ and condemns this as ‘a mistaken conception of his duty’.

The Government of India Act 1919, which embodied the recommendation of the Montagu-Chelmsford Report introduced a dual form of government, or dyarchy, for major provinces and divided the areas of government into ‘transferred’ and ‘reserved’ list in all such provinces. As a result, the core responsibilities such as defence and foreign affairs remained under the control of the Viceroy. These reforms were seen as inadequate.

Khilafat movement (1919-1924) - The defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the First World War results in the impending partition of the Ottoman Empire and concerns over the position of the Caliph, the symbolic spiritual head of Muslims. Indian Muslims initiate the Khilafat movement, a campaign to pressurise Britain to restore the integrity of the Sultan of Turkey as the Caliph and protect the borders of Turkey.

Widespread anger in the aftermath of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre enables both Muslims and non-Muslims to sympathise and join hands with the anti-British nature of the Khilafat movement. Disillusionment among Indian Muslims regarding Britain’s harsh treatment of the Caliphate intensifies due to a feeling of betrayal that despite the loyalty of Muslim soldiers to Britain during the War, their concerns regarding the lenient treatment of Turkey were not considered. Mahatma Gandhi supported the Khilafat movement and its demands were merged with the larger Non-Cooperation Movement that followed.

Non-cooperation movement (1920 onwards): The Rowlatt Act, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, martial law in Punjab, and the inadequate changes ushered in towards the end of 1919 by the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms, created widespread discontent in India. Besides showcasing the hollowness of British wartime promises, this further incensed large number of Indians, sceptical of reforms through constitutional means and suffering under severe economic distress. The Non-Cooperation movement headed by Mahatma Gandhi capitalised on this feeling of disillusionment and engaged in non-violent protest against British rule.