Apology Demand for Jallianwala Bagh Massacre 1919

Amritsar massacre

Earlier today the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre 1919 centenary committee hosted an event in Parliament which was co-organised by Chris Williamson MP, Virendra Sharma MP and the Indians workers Association.

The participants at the meeting think that it is only right and proper that the serving prime minister issue a formal apology for the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (also known as Amritsar massacre)  that took place in Amritsar on 13 April 1919 .

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre Apology demand (Image by Kirat Raj Singh)

This event has been etched into the psyche of Indians due to the pure brutality of the act. An Assembly of civilians were gathered in the gardens. The Jallianwalla Bagh is a public garden of 6 to 7 acres, walled on all sides. On Reginald Dyer’s orders, his troops fired on the crowd, without warning, directing their bullets largely towards the few open gates through which people were trying to flee. Dyer ordered his troops to keep shooting toward the densest sections of the crowd. Firing continued for approximately ten minutes. Cease-fire was ordered only when ammunition supplies were almost exhausted, after approximately 1,650 rounds were spent. He ‘explained’ later that this act “was not to disperse the meeting but to punish the Indians for disobedience.”

In February 2013 2013 the Former Prime Minister, David Camron, visited Jallianwala Bagh adjacent to the Golden Temple, wrote in the visitor’s book,” This was a deeply shameful act in British history, one that Winston Churchill rightly described at the time as Monstrous.

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre Apology demand (Image by Kirat Raj Singh)

The Houses of Parliament are being asked to formally apologise and follow suit from other countries that have been involved in similar acts of brutality.

Article By Ranj Sidhu