The Satyagraha Movements by Mahatma Gandhi achieved their desired objectives and were a
great success.
To control such movements, the British proposed the Rowlatt Act in 1919. The Rowlatt Act aimed to curb the political activities in the country and equipped the courts with the power to detain political prisoners without trial for two years.
Mahatma Gandhi opposed the Rowlatt Act by starting a peaceful Satyagraha. He suggested a Civil Disobedience beginning with a hartal on 6th April 1919.
The British were threatened that this mass movement could break all lines of communications in the country and so they decided to suppress the nationalists. Several local leaders were arrested and Mahatma Gandhi was prohibited from entering Delhi.
On 13th April 1919 several villagers had gathered at the Jallianwalla Bagh in Amritsar to attend a cattle fair on the occasion of Baisakhi. General Dyer blocked all the entry points to the ground and without any prior warning, opened fire on the hapless crowd.
The merciless firing continued for 10-15 minutes leaving hundreds of people including women and children dead and wounded.
The Jallianwalla Bagh massacre triggered many protests, strikes, and clashes with policemen and attacks on Government buildings, across North India. The British Government suppressed these protests and humiliated the Satyagrahis.