Satyapal (11 May 1885 — 18 April 1954) was a physician and political leader in

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, who was arrested along with

Saifuddin Kitchlew Saifuddin Kitchlew (15 January 1888 – 9 October 1963) was an Indian independence activist, barrister, politician and later a leader of the peace movement. A member of Indian National Congress, he first became Punjab Provincial Congress Comm ...

on 10 April 1919, three days before the

Jallianwala Bagh massacre The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. A large peaceful crowd had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab, to protest against the Rowlatt Act and arrest of pro-independenc ...

Early life

Satyapal was educated at

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...

, where he was a friend of

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India du ...

. On 17 September 1915, during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, he received a temporary King's Commission as a lieutenant in the

Indian Medical Service The Indian Medical Service (IMS) was a military medical service in British India, which also had some civilian functions. It served during the two World Wars, and remained in existence until the independence of India in 1947. Many of its officer ...

, serving with distinction.Anand, pp. 72
/ref> For unspecified reasons, he relinquished his commission with effect from 16 September 1916, and upon return to India and following the Rowlatt Act he became active in the movement of non-cooperation and non-violent resistance to British rule. He was married to Gian DeviGoyal, p. 32
/ref> and had a successful practice in the old part of the city of Amritsar.

Arrest

On the orders of

Michael O’Dwyer Michael Francis O'Dwyer (28 April 1864 – 13 March 1940) was an Irish Indian Civil Service (ICS) officer and later the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, British India, between 1913 and 1919. During O'Dwyer's tenure as Punjab's Lieutenant Gove ...

the CID had kept close surveillance on Kitchlew and Satypal from mid-March 1919. Again, following the orders of O'Dwyer, they were summoned to

Miles Irving Sir Miles Irving CIE, OBE (1 August 1876 - 24 June 1962) was an English Indian Civil Service officer. As Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar, the senior government official in charge, he transferred the city's administration to Colonel (temp. Brigad ...

, the Deputy Commissioner's house in the

Civil Lines Civil Lines (archaically White Town) are the residential neighbourhoods developed during the British Raj for its senior civilian officers like Divisional commissioner and District magistrate. These townships were built all over the Indian subconti ...

on 10 April 1919. Satypal recalled "I did not at all attach much importance to the matter and went about my daily rounds as usual", not having thought of it as great importance. They were both already barred from political activities and attended that day with their friends Hans Raj and Jai Ram Singh. Kitchlew arrived shortly before Satypal and after a few minutes of waiting, were called in and given The Defence of India Orders with the request for both to leave

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha ...

immediately. Miles Irving recounted the secret nature of the operation as he "decided that they would be 30 miles on their way to Dharamsala before any one knew about it".Wagner, Kim. ''Amritsar 1919'' pp. 74-76
/ref> After being given permission to write to their families, Satyapal and Kitchlew were escorted by four soldiers disguised in hunting gear. Hans Raj and Jai Ram Singh were kept waiting on Irving's veranda in case the news of the arrest spread before Kitchlew and Satypal were far away enough. They waited an hour before Irving passed to them the letters to their families. Satypal recounted "there was a military escort with guns in each car" and "the cars were driven at high speed and we did not halt till we got to the Nurpur Dak Bungalow", which was 50 miles away from Amritsar. They reached Dharamasala, at the foot of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

, at 8 pm that evening, and were kept under house arrest. As the news of the arrest spread, supporters began to gather near Irving's home and what initially appeared a peaceful attempt to make enquiries ended up in a violent clash.Anand, pp. 81-83
/ref> On 13 April 1919, protesting over the arrest, a meeting was called to take place at Jallianwala Bagh. In June 1919 at the trial of the 'Amritsar conspiracy case at Lahore', Satyapal was convicted with 14 others and sentenced to two years imprisonment, following the statement of Hans Raj, who attended the trial as an

approver A criminal turns state's evidence by admitting guilt and testifying as a witness for the state against their associate(s) or accomplice(s), often in exchange for leniency in sentencing or immunity from prosecution.Howard Abadinsky, ''Organized C ...

.Wagner, pp. 201-203
/ref>

Later life

Following the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Satyapal rejoined the Indian Medical Service, receiving an emergency commission as a captain on 8 December 1941 (with ante-date seniority from 8 December 1936). After Indian independence, he remained active in politics and in 1952 was successful in contesting the elections to the

Punjab Vidhan Sabha The Punjab Legislative Assembly or the Punjab Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the state of Punjab in India. The Sixteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly was constituted in March 2022. At present, it consists of 117 members, direct ...

.Goyal, p. 203
/ref> He died at

Shimla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared as the summer capital of British India. After independence, ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several pea ...

on 18 April 1954.

References

Citations

*Goyal, Shailja, ''Dr. Satyapal, the hero of freedom movement in the Punjab''. PBG Publications (2004) * Anand, Anita. (2019
''The Patient Assassin: A true tale of massacre, revenge, and India's quest for independence''
New York: Scribner. * Wagner, Kim A. (2019
''Amritsar 1919: An Empire of Fear and the Making of a Massacre''
New Haven:

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Univers ...

Early life

Arrest

Later life

References

Citations

Further reading