M.K. Gandhi | autograph note signed, on the Congress Report on the Amristar Massacre , 24 April 1920, with cover letter

Mohandas K. Gandhi

i) Autograph note signed ("M.K. Gandhi"), correcting two errors in the Congress Report on the Punjab Disorders [i.e. the Amritsar Massacre or Jallianwala Bagh Massacre], firstly, "it is stated that 'the European lives lost were four'. The number should be seven", and, secondly, that the caption under the portrait of Kundan Lal "says 'sentenced to transportation for life for waging war'. The letter-press should read 'tried for waging war but acquitted'"; and apologising for these errors, "which were due to the extraordinary difficulty under which the report went to the press"; 2 pages, 8vo (232 x 130mm), text on rectos only, Sinhagadh, 24 April 1920, pinned, minor ink stain, browning

ii) Autograph letter signed ("M.K. Gandhi"), to "The Manager, The A[ssociated] P[ress], B[om]bay" [i.e. A.C. Chaterjee], enclosing his note on the Report and requesting that he circulate it to the press, 1 page, 8vo (182 x 115mm), Sinhagadh, 24 April 1924, spotting, tears to margin not affecting text

A LETTER RELATING TO GANDHI'S RESPONSE TO THE MASSACRE OF PEACEFUL PROTESTORS AT THE JALLIANWALA BAGH IN AMRITSAR, AN EVENT THAT SHOCKED INDIA AND MARKED A STEP TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE. Growing nationalist protest in India led to the government passing the Rowlatt Act (which allowed for a number of illiberal measures including detention without trial and arrest without warrant) in March 1919, which in turn stoked further dissent. Gandhi was himself arrested on 9 April and four days later came the massacre of protesters by the British Indian Army in Amritsar. Gandhi's immediate response to the massacre was to insist on non-violence, and to fast-unto-death to pressure Indians to stop rioting. He then called on Indians to boycott the official investigation into the massacre, and Congress instead researched its own report, largely written by Gandhi himself, which put the massacre into the context of a broader campaign of violent suppression of unrest. The Congress Report was published on 25 March 1920. Nearly 500 pages in length, the report was a powerful indictment of the British administration, its heavy-handed violence and moral bankruptcy, its 19 conclusions including the firm statement that:

"The Jallianwala Bagh massacre was a calculated piece of inhumanity towards utterly innocent and unarmed men, including children, and unparalleled for its ferocity in the history of modern British administration."

 The current letter was written in response to criticism about two errors in the Congress Report. It was stated that four Europeans were killed during the riots in Punjab, when the correct number was seven; the long list of convicted protestors included one person who had in fact been acquitted of "waging war against the King". Gandhi was quick and public in his response to these criticisms: his case against the British government required no exaggeration, and nothing could be allowed to undermine his greatest weapon against his enemies - his moral superiority over them.