PM Modi pays tributes to Jallianwala Bagh massacre victims

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday paid tributes to the victims of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and said their courage, heroism and sacrifice give strength to every Indian.

In a tweet, Prime Minister Modi said, "Tributes to those martyred in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Their courage, heroism, and sacrifice give strength to every Indian."

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place on April 13, 1919 when troops of the British Indian Army, under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer, fired machine guns into a crowd of unarmed protesters and pilgrims who had gathered in Jallianwala Bagh in Punjab's Amritsar on the occasion of Baisakhi.

The crowd had assembled peacefully at the venue to condemn the arrest of two national leaders -- Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew -- when they were fired at indiscriminately by General Dyer and his men.

According to British government records, 379 people including men, women, and children were killed while 1,200 were wounded in the firing. Other sources place the number of dead at well over 1,000.