Michael O'Dwyer
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Sir Michael Francis O'Dwyer (April 1864 – 13 March 1940) was Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab from 1912 until 1919. On the issue of the Amritsar Massacre, O'Dwyer supported General Reginald Dyer's actions and termed the massacre as a "correct action."[1][2] He was later to be assassinated by an Indian Sikh nationalist Udham Singh for giving this approval.
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[edit] Early life
O'Dwyer was the sixth son in a family of fourteen children of John O'Dwyer of Barronstown, Solohead, and Margaret, daughter of Patrick Quire of Toem, County Tipperary, Ireland.
He was educated at St Stanislaus' College in Tullamore and passed the competition for Indian Civil Service in 1882 and the final examination in 1884. [3].
He completed two years of probation at Balliol College, Oxford, where in third year, he obtained a first class in jurisprudence.
Joining the service in India in 1885, [4] he was first posted at Shahpur in Punjab. He distinguished himself in land revenue settlement work, and was made director of land records and agriculture in Punjab (1896); next year he was placed in charge of settlements of Alwar and Bharatpur States.
After a long furlough, O'Dwyer was selected by Lord Curzon for a prominent part in organization of the new North-West Frontier Province and its separation from Punjab; he was revenue commissioner from 1901 to 1908. From 1908 through 1909, he was acting resident in Hyderabad[5] and agent to the governor-general in Central India from 1910 to 1912.
[edit] Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
In December 1912, while Lord Hardinge of Penshurst was Viceroy, he was appointed Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab, a post which he held till 1919. When he assumed charge in May 1913, he was cautioned by the Viceroy that
the Punjab was the Province about which the Government were then the most concerned; that there was much inflammable material lying about; which require very careful handling if an explosion is to be avoided.[6]
It was during O'Dwyer's tenure as Lieutenant Governor of Punjab that the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre occurred in Amritsar, on April 13, 1919. According to official figures, 379 unarmed civilians were killed by Gurkha troops under the command of Brigadier General Reginald Dyer with the support of O'Dwyer. Unofficial estimates place the figure much higher, at 2,000, with more wounded.[7]
Modern researchers assert that
this plan was formulated in the Government House, Lahore, by Michael O'Dwyer and other top British bureaucrats both belonging to civil and military side. Lt.-Col. Smith was also present in this meeting.[8]
The meeting, conducted by Michael O'Dwyer, was unofficial and kept secret. It fell to Reginald Dyer (subsequently labelled the "Butcher of Amritsar") to carry out the plan. [9] The main idea was to
teach the Punjabis a lesson which they will never forget and to strike a terror throughout Punjab.[10]
After it, the British Labour Party Conference at Scarborough unanimously passed a resolution 24 June 1920, which denounced the "Cruel and barbarous actions" of British officers in Punjab and called for their trial, the recall of O'Dwyer and Chelmsford, and the repeal of the repressive legislation. The delegates rose in their places as a tribute to India's martyred dead.[11] In the wake of the massacre O'Dwyer was relieved of his office.
[edit] Later life
In 1933, O'Dwyer published a large book entitled The O'Dwyers of Kilnamanagh: The History of an Irish Sept, an historical and genealogical treatise detailing the O'Dwyer (Ó Duibhir) noble family who had ruled the area around Thurles from the pre-Norman era until losing their castles and land during the Cromwellian confiscations of the 1600s. It was republished in the 21st century under the title The History of the O'Dwyers.
[edit] Assassination
O'Dwyer was shot dead in Caxton Hall in the heart of London on March 13, 1940, by a Punjabi revolutionary, Udham Singh, as an act of revenge for Amritsar. [12]
[edit] Lady Una O'Dwyer
Una O'Dwyer, Sir Michael's wife, was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in her own right in 1919.
[edit] References
- ^ Michael O'Dwyer's telegram to Dyer: "Your action correct. Lieutenant Governor approves", See Disorder Inquiry Committee Report, Vol II, p 197
- ^ Saga of Freedom Movement, Udham Singh, 2002, p 67-68 Dr Sikander Singh
- ^ Dictionary of National Biography 1931-40, edited by L. G. Wickham Legg, Oxford Univ Press, London, p 655
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ A Pre-Meditated Plan of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre and Oath of Revenge, Udham Singh alias Ram Mohammad Singh Azaad, 2002, pp. 68, 133, 144, 294, Prof Sikander Singh.
- ^ The Massacre that Ended the Raj, London, 1981, Alfared Draper
- ^ Jallainawala Bagh Massacre — A Premaditated Plan, Punjab University, Chandigarh, 1969, p 24, Raja Ram.
- ^ A Pre-Meditated Plan of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre and Oath of Revenge, Udham Singh alias Ram Mohammad Singh Azaad, 2002, pp. 133, 144, 294, Prof. Sikander Singh; Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, A Premeditated Plan, Punjab University Chandigarh, 1969, p. 24, Raja Ram.
- ^ The Times, London, 25 June 1920, Cited by Derek Sayer, p 41
- ^ A Saga of Freedom Movement and Jallianwala Massacre, Great Patriot and Martyr, Udham Singh, 2003, p 68, Prof. (Dr.) Sikanadr Singh.
[edit] Books and Journals
- India as I Know It, London, 1925, Michael O'Dwyer.
- Dictionary of National Biography 1931-40, edited by L. G. Wickham Legg, Oxford University Press, London.
- The Massacre that Ended the Raj, London, 1981, Alfared Draper.
- Jallianwala Bagh Massacre - A Pre-Mediated Plan, Punjab University, Chandigarh, 1969, Raja Ram.
- Udham Singh alias Ram Mohammad Singh Azaad, Prof. (Dr.) Sikander Singh (A research book).
- Emergence of the Image: Redact Documents of Udham Singh/edited by Navtej Singh and Avtar Singh Jouhl,New Delhi, National Book Organisation, 2002.
- Jallian Wala Bagh Massacre and its Impact on Udham Singh, Proceedings of Punjab History Conference, 21st session, 27 March - 29 March 1987, Punjab University, Patiala, India.
- Eminent Freedom Fighters of Punjab, Punjab University, Patiala, 1972, Dr Fauja Singh.
- Sunam Da Surma, Sardar Udham Singh, Jullundur, 1982, Dr. Gurcharana Singh.
- Shaheed Udham Singh, National Press of India, Delhi, 1973, Kesar Singh.
- Inqulabhi Yodha Udham Singh, Khalsa Sikh Orphanage, Amritsar, 1974.
- Shaheed Udham Singh alias Ram Mohammad Singh Azad, 1974, K. C. Vashishat.
- Jallainwala Bagh and the Raj, Jallian Wala Bagh, Commemoration vol., Patiala.
- Udham Singh, The Patriot who Avenged the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, M. S. Gill, Illustrated Weekly of India, 30 January 1972.
- The O'Dwyers of Kilnamanagh: The History of an Irish Sept, Sir Michael F. O'Dwyer, 1933.
