The study critically explores the Rowlatt Act of 1919, a repressive legislative measure enacted by the British colonial government in India, and explores its far-reaching legal, political, and societal consequences. Enacted in the aftermath of World War I, the Act extended wartime emergency powers into peacetime, enabling preventive detention, in-camera trials, censorship, and suspension of civil liberties without due process. The paper analyses the Act's legal framework and its profound departure from principles such as habeas corpus, freedom of expression, and judicial impartiality. Particular attention is paid to the resistance it provoked, notably Mahatma Gandhi's Rowlatt Satyagraha, which marked a turning point in the Indian freedom struggle by transforming elite constitutional opposition into a mass nonviolent movement. The study further explores the tragic Jallianwala Bagh massacre as a brutal consequence of colonial overreach and how it galvanized national sentiment against British rule.
1. Sarkar, Sumit. “The Politics Behind the Rowlatt Act (1919).” Academia.edu, 2019.2. Sobhanan, B. “The Case for the Rowlatt Act in India.” Panjab University Research Bulletin: Arts, vol. 12, 1984, pp. 45–62.3. Parkash, B. “The Government of India Act-1935: A Way to the Responsible Government.” 2017.4. Rowlatt, S. A. T. The Law of Principal and Surety. London, Butterworth & Co., 1899.5. Singh, P. “Later the Inauguration of Non-Cooperation Movement Involving Boycott of Educational Institutions.” Indian Archives, vol. 34, 1989, pp. 112–130.6. Guha, Ranajit. “The Mahatma and the Mob—Essays on Gandhian Politics: The Rowlatt Satyagraha of 1919.” South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, vol. 1, no. 2, 1973, pp. 134–152.7. Seng-Low, B. “Was the Amritsar Massacre a Turning Point for the Indian Independence Movement?” HIST, 1910.8. Gopi, M. “British Colonial Repression and Resistance in the Madras Presidency.” History Research Journal of Humanities and Arts, vol. 10, 2024.9. Singh, P. “Chhotu Ram and the Indian National Congress.” Indian Archives, vol. 34, 1989, pp. 213–230.10. Bose, S. “Home Rule for India.” The Open Court, vol. 33, no. 7, 1919, pp. 450–460.11. Khanna, R. “Transformation of British Policies in India after the First World War.” International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research, vol. 4, no. 3, 2019, pp. 89–104.12. Lee, E. D. “Upon the Agitation for the Repeal of the Rowlatt Act and Upon Indian Aspirations.” Fortnightly Review, vol. 105, 1919, pp. 15–28.13. Singh, H. “Punjab's Response to Rowlatt Bills’ Agitation.” In History and Culture of Panjab, edited by A. Singh, Punjabi University, 1988, pp. 87–105.14. Kaur, S. “Jallianwala Bagh Massacre & Rowlatt Act: A Historical Understanding of the Colonial Mindset.” Journal of Contemporary Historical Studies, vol. 11, no. 2, 2019, pp. 197–209.15. Fazal, D. A., and A. Fazl. “Muslims and the Rowlatt Act Satyagraha.” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, vol. 63, 2002, pp. 56–72.16. Thomas, R. “Sir Sidney and Sir John: The Rowlatts and Tax.” British Tax Review, no. 3, 2010, pp. 251–267.17. Ibid.18. Ibid.19. Habib, Irfan. “Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.” Social Scientist, vol. 47, no. 1, 2019, pp. 3–18.20. Downs, Timothy. “Act XI of 1857: The Life and Afterlife of an Emergency Statute in Colonial and Post-Colonial India.” Modern Asian Studies, vol. 58, no. 2, 2024, pp. 300–330.21. Ramya, K. R. “A Study of Non-Cooperation Movement: Causes, Result and Its Importance.” Journal of Sustainable Value Creation in B2B, vol. 5, no. 1, 2023.
