UK MP raises Jallianwala massacre issue in House of Commons
LONDON:SENIOR Labour Member of Parliament Virendra Sharma has asked British Prime Minister Theresa May to join him and others to commemorate next month the 99th anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar in 1919.
Punjab-origin Sharma on Wednesday asked May during the Prime Minister’s ‘question time’, “This year, April 13 represents the 99th anniversary of what happened at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar (India), known as the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, in which more than 1,000 peaceful protesters were murdered by soldiers under the command of General Dyer”.
“Will the Prime Minister join me in commemorating the massacre and meet me and others who are campaigning for this shameful episode to be remembered across the UK?”
May replied: “The honourable gentleman has raised a very specific issue and a very specific point. I will be happy to look at the question he has raised and respond to him in writing.”
There have been demands in the past that Britain tender an apology for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
As Prime Minister, David Cameron visited the memorial in Amritsar in 2013 and described it as a “deeply shameful event”, but did not apologise, saying: “I think the right thing is to acknowledge what happened, to recall what happened, to show respect and understanding for what happened”. A British commission that conducted an inquiry into the incident concluded 379 people were killed.