JALLIANWALA BAGH: DEMAND FOR APOLOGY FROM UK GROWS

LONDON: If Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could apologise for the Komagata Maru incident of 1914, why can’t the British government do so for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre, wondered delegates from India at a commemoration event in UK parliament.

The event on Saturday, organised by Indian-origin members of the House of Lords Raj Loomba and Meghnad Desai and the Jallianwala Bagh Centenary Committee, rounded off a series of events in the UK to mark the centenary of the massacre considered by historians as a turning point in India’s freedom struggle.

Vikramjit Singh Sahney of World Punjabi Organisation said: “If Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau can formally apologise for Komagata Maru, why can’t the British apologise for Jallianwallah Bagh massacare? These were the same Punjabis who fought for them in World War 1.” The event was held in the backdrop of Prime Minister Theresa May, ministers and representatives of the UK government reiterating “deep regret” for the incident, but falling short of the demand for an apology. May’s brief statement in the House of Commons, however, was seen as a step forward in the discourse of Jallianwala Bagh.

Indian high commissioner Ruchi Ghanshyam said the incident shook the soul of India, but also highlighted the historical strategic partnership between Britain and India.

Manjit Singh GK, chief patron of the centenary committee, highlighted atrocities committed in history, and narrated individual sufferings of the Amritsar massacre. He said the British wanted to suppress the Indian masses but the tragedy intensified the freedom struggle. Channel 4 telecast a documentary by journalist Satnam Sanghera, while The Guardian dwelt on the massacre in an editorial titled: ‘Time to see ourselves as others see us’.