The Amritsar Hartal of 1919 was held in response to a call for an all-India hartal given by Mahatma Gandhi in March 1919. The hartal was to protest the Rowlatt Act passed by the British colonial government on 18 March, 1919.
On 30 March, the day of the hartal in Amritsar, leaders like Dr. Satyapal and Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew drove around bazaars urging people to observe the hartal. By the evening, large parts of Amritsar had shut down, and thousands of people, including women, turned up at the Jallianwala Bagh for a meeting. Leaders and volunteers delivered speeches and recited patriotic poems. The crowd brewed with enthusiasm and intermittently broke out in slogans such as “Mahatma Gandhi ki jai” and “Hindu-Mussalman ki jai”. Two resolutions were kept forward- one was against the Rowlatt Act and another for forwarding the proceeds of the meeting to Gandhi. Kitchlew chaired the meeting, and in his keynote speech, he encouraged the crowd to participate in the anti-Rowlatt protests and emphasised the significance of Hindu-Muslim unity. The proceedings of the meeting and Kitchlew’s speech were carefully recorded by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
The day of hartal ended peacefully, unsuspecting of the turbulent days ahead.
Source: Indian Culture Portal