For Jawaharlal Nehru, the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre was a watershed moment. Although he had identified with and admired the British, the dark side of imperialism was revealed to him. The brutal and mindless killing of hundreds of innocent people tipped the balance for Nehru. He was now fully committed to working towards a free India. He was also convinced that the way forward was through determined resistance and became a firm supporter of Gandhi’s leadership.
In the aftermath of the Amritsar tragedy, the Congress set up a committee to investigate the matter and Nehru was sent to Punjab to gather evidence. It was here that he was exposed to the hardships that the common man faced. Nehru had led a fairly sheltered existence and had no idea what poverty and deprivation were like.
He had no idea of the primitive conditions that the average Indian lived in. The experience filled him with guilt and empathy for the common man. He now saw that freedom from the British was the first step towards bettering the lot of India’s masses and Nehru the social reformer slowly took shape.
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