The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-06-13

dence of more than 100 witnesses who
 were examined and in formulating the
 conclusions reached.
 l We have been obliged in places to
 use strong language" says the commis- sion in the course of it's conclusions, but | we have used every adjective with due 1 deliberation. If anything, we have under
 rated the case against the PunJab gov ernment. We recognize that we have
 no right to exact an impossible standard
 of correctness from the government In | times of excitement and difficulty, any
 officer is prone to make mistakes. in spite of the best intentions in the world. ] We recognize, too, that when the coun- | try is on the eve of important changes
 introduced in the administration, and the | sovereign has made an appeal to the
 officials and the people for cooperation, we should say nothing that may be cal
 culated to retard the progress. l But we feel that it is not possible to 1 ignore acts of atrocious injustice on a
 wholesale scale by responsible officers, as it would not be possible, no matter 1 how bright the future might be, to ignore l the criminal acts of the people. In our | opinion, it is more necessary now than i ever before that the official wrong l should be purged. as well as the peo- ples The task of working the reforms
 and making India realize her goal in the
 quickest time possible would be we'll l nigh impossible, if both the people and l the officials did not approach it with
 clean hands and clean minds. If, there l fore, we recommend tpat officials who l have erred should be brought to justice, we do so. not in a vndictive spirit, but | in order that the administration of the l country may become purified of cor
 ruption and injustice. Whilst, therefore we believe that the mob excesses, in Amritsar and elsewhere were wrong and 1 deserving of condemnation, we are equal 1 ly sure that the popular misdeeds have been more than punished by the action I of the authorities.
 1 "In examining, in detail, the events in | the different districts of the Puljab. we
 have refrained from saying anything re- | garding the government of India It is l impossible. however to ignore or slur | over the inaction, if not the active par l ticipation, of the central government in | the official action His excellency the viceroy never took the trouble of exam I ming the peoples case. He ignored l telegrams and letters from individuals and public bodies. He indorsed the ac- i tion of the Punjab government without l inquiry. He clothed the officials with | indemnity in indecent haste. He never went to Punjab to make a personal in quiry, even after the occurrences. He | ought to have known, at least in May, I eNerNIhlnR that the VdTlOuS OlIlCldl wit 1 nesses have admitted, and yet he failed to inform the public or the imperial gov ernment of the full nature of the Jal- fleanwala Bagh massacre. or the subse- quent acts done under martial law. | Whilst we do not think his excellency was wilfully neglectful of the interests l of those who were entrusted to his 1 charge by his majesty, we regret te l say that his exce1lency, Lord Chelms- | yd aI ioo b1a If hOl6ine- the high office to which he was called, and we are of the opinion that his ex- cellency should be recalled
 1 Other conclusions of the committee
 were stated as follows:
 1 "The people of the Punjab were in i censed against Sir M. O'Dwyer's admin 1 istration by reason of his studied con- 1 tempt and distrust of the educated | classes, and by reason of the cruel and compulsory methods, adopted during the l war for obtaining recruits and none 1 tary contributions and by his suppress | sion of public opinion by gagging the 1 local press and shutting out nationalist newspapers from outside the Punjab. 1.-The Rowlatt agitation disturbed the 1 public mind and shook public confidence | in the good will of the government. This was shared by the Punjab in a l fuller measure, perhaps than elsewhere, because of the use made by Sir M. l O'Dwyer of the defense of India act for purposes of stifling public movements. ''The Satyagraha (civil resistance) movement, and the hartal which was designed as prosecutor of it, whilst they vitalized the whole country into activity, saved it from more awful and more widespread calamties, by restrain ing the violent tendencies and passions Of the people.
 ''The Rowlatt agitation was not con- ceived in an anti-British spirit, and the Satyagraha movement was conceived and
 conducted in a spirit entirely free from ill-will and violence.
 ''There was no conspiracy to overthrow the government in the Punjab.
 "The arrest and internment of MT.
 Grandhi Oeader of the Satyagraha movement) and the arrests and deporta- tions of Drs. Kitchlew and Satyapal were unjustifiable, and were the only direct cause of hysterical excitem ent
 "The mob violence which began at Amritsar was directly due to the firing at the railway overbridge (several days previous) and the sight of the dead and wounded at time when the excitement had reached white heat.
 ''Whatever the cause of provocation. the mob excesses are deeply to be re- gretted and condemned.
 'So far the facts are publicly
 
 shown to justify the introduction of mar tial law
 In each case. martial law was pro- claimed after order had been completely restored.
 "Even if it be held that the introduc- ton of martial law was state necessity, it was unduly prolonged.
 Most of the measures taken under martial law, in all the five districts. were unnecessary, cruel. oppressive and in utter disregard of the feelings of the people affected by them.
 "In Lahore, Akalgarh. Ramnagar. Guirat, Jalalpur Jattan. Lyallpur and Sheikhupura there were no mob ex- cesses at all worthy of the name.
 s"fhe Jalleanwa1la Bagh massacre was a calculated piece of inhumnity toward utterly innocent and unarmed men, in- cluding children. and unparalleled for fts ferocity in the history of modern British administration.
 ''The martial law tribunals and the summary courts were made the means of harassing innocent people. and result ed in abortion of justice on a wide scale. and under the name of justice caused
 moral material sufferings to hundreds of men and women.
 .srhe crawling order and other fancy prnishrnents were unworthy of civil- ized administration and were sympto- rnatic of the moral degradation of their
 inventors.
 'sThe imposition of indemnity and of punitive police at various places, not withstanding exemplary and vindictive pur,ishnents meted out. through nearly two long months. mostly to innocent men, and the exaction of fines and H. legal impositions were an uncalied-for'