It was on the same day when Gandhi entered into a three-day fast in Ahmedabad that a terrific event that marked one of the blackest days in British India history occurred in Jallianwalla Bagh at Amritsar, Punjab.

The Lieutenant Governor of Punjab was one Michael O’ Dyer who hated the Congress party and its activities.  He asked the army to deal with the gathering properly. General Dyer was the officer commanding the army unit. He was born in Simla, India to Irish parents. He was drafted to the army after his formal education and posted in Punjab. 

He discussed the political atmosphere in the province and they concluded that the processions, meetings and other happenings in Amritsar and other places in Punjab were part of the Indian struggles against the British Rule and decided to suppress it. The general issued orders prohibiting processions and public meetings. But the order was read out and proclaimed only in certain places and the people by and large had no idea of the issuance of such a prohibitory order.