The Amritsar Massacre. How far does the evidence of Sources 11 and 12 support the judgement of the Hunter Committee presented in Source 10?
How far does the evidence of Sources 11 and 12 support the judgement of the Hunter Committee presented in Source 10?
Sources 11 and 12 both share a similar view, compared to the one put across in Source 10 by the Hunter Committee’s report from 1919.
This is because Source 10 was taken from a report published by the Hunter Committee (a group of British Lawyers) in 1919. The source suggests that the Hunter Committee felt Dyer’s actions were ‘beyond what any reasonable man would have thought to be necessary’. This shows that the British lawyers were questioning the means of a British soldier. The Hunter Committee did not agree with the opinion that Dyer’s actions ‘saved the Punjab and averted a large-scale rebellion’ in fact they felt that since there was no sign of a conspiracy to overthrow the British Raj, it was extreme and unreasonable to open fire into the crowd.