(1919) Incident in which British troops fired on a crowd of Indian protesters.
In 1919 the British government of India enacted the Rowlatt Acts, extending its World War I emergency powers to combat subversive activities. On April 13 a large crowd gathered at Amritsar in the Punjab to protest the measures; troops opened fire, killing about 379 and wounding some 1,200. The massacre permanently scarred relations between India and Britain and was the prelude to Mohandas K. Gandhi 's noncooperation movement of 192022.