Faced with growing demand for an apology, Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday reiterated the UK government\u2019s long-standing expression of \u2018deep regret\u2019 over the April 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre, calling it a \u2018shameful scar\u2019 on British Indian history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An apology on behalf \nof the state is usually made by the prime minister. Mark Field, junior \nminister in the foreign office, told MPs seeking the apology on Tuesday \nthat it was not for him to tender it, but said the issue is a \u2018work in \nprogress\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Corbyn said: \u201cI am very pleased that the prime \nminister mentioned what happened in Jallianwala Bagh and the issues of \nthe massacre at Amritsar a hundred years ago. I think the people in \nmemory of those that lost their lives and the brutality of what happened\n deserve a full, clear and unequivocal apology for what took place on \nthat occasion\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a brief statement during Prime Minister\u2019s \nQuestions in the House of Commons, May said: \u201cThe tragedy of Jallianwala\n Bagh in 1919 is a shameful scar on British Indian history. As her \nmajesty the Queen said before visiting Jallianwala Bagh in 1997, it is a\n distressing example of our past history with India\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May went on\n to extol what she called the \u201cenormous contribution\u201d of the Indian \ndiaspora, but did not dwell on the issue further during the session, \nwhen Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called for the apology a hundred years \nafter the incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Responding to May\u2019s comments, senior Labour \nMP Virendra Sharma said: \u201cI appreciate the Prime Minister\u2019s comments \ntoday, and thank her for her earnest words, but they are only the \nbeginning of an apology not the full and frank formal apology that the \ncommunities affected need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI would also like to offer my fullest\n thanks to Jeremy Corbyn for his words of support, and his commitment to\n a full apology when he becomes Prime Minister. The wounds of the \nJallianwala Bagh Massacre still haunt millions and should be laid to \nrest at this the centenary of the horrendous act.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The \nJallianwala Bagh massacre has been the subject of several debates since \n1919 in the UK parliament, most recently on Tuesday in the Westminster \nHall and in February in the House of Lords, when the government said it \nhas been \u2018reflecting\u2019 on the apology demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Field told MPs: \u201cIt \nis not appropriate for me to make the apology I know many would wish to \ncome. I can assure the house that this is a work in progress. It is an \nactive debate taking place among ministers and among senior officials \nand our high commissioner in New Delhi.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The British high \ncommission in New Delhi, Field added, had been asked to visit the \nmemorial site on April 13 and lay a wreath. There will also be a public \nacknowledgement of the centenary and the sense of \u2018deep regret\u2019 in \nevents organised in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Responding during the PMQs to \nConservative MP Shailesh Vara, who wanted May to commend the Indian \ndiaspora for contributing nearly 10 per cent of taxes even though \nconstituting only 4 per cent of the UK population, May said the \ncommunity deserves to be congratulated.\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Faced with growing demand for an apology, Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday reiterated the UK government\u2019s long-standing expression of \u2018deep regret\u2019 over the April 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre, calling it a \u2018shameful scar\u2019 on British Indian history. An apology on behalf of the state is usually made by the prime minister. Mark Field, junior […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58869,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58868"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58870,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58868\/revisions\/58870"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}