Britain owes apology, says London Mayor

AMRITSAR, India: London's first Asian-origin mayor Sadiq Khan said the British government should apologise for a colonial-era massacre in India as he visited the site yesterday, reports AFP .

The 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre, in which British troops opened fire on thousands of unarmed protesters in the city of Amritsar, remains an enduring scar of British colonial rule over the subcontinent. The then British prime minister David Cameron described it as deeply shameful when he visited the memorial in the northern state of Punjab during a 2013 trip to India, but stopped short of an apology.

Writing in the visitors' book, Khan said it had been "incredibly moving" to see the site of the massacre, calling it a tragedy that should never be forgotten.

"It is time for the British government to finally apologise," he wrote. "Our thoughts are with all those who died." Colonial-era records show about 400 people died when soldiers opened fire on men, women and children in the enclosed area, but Indian figures put the toll at closer to 1,000.

 

Britain owes apology, says London Mayor

AMRITSAR, India: Londons first Asian-origin mayor Sadiq Khan said the British government should apologise for a colonial-era massacre in India as he visited the site yesterday, reports AFP . The 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre, in which British troops opened fire on thousands of unarmed protesters in the city of Amritsar, remains an enduring scar of British colonial rule over the subcontinent. The then British prime minister David Cameron described it as deeply shameful when he visited the memorial in the northern state of Punjab during a 2013 trip to India, but stopped short of an apology. Writing in the visitors book, Khan said it had been incredibly moving to see the site of the massacre, calling it a tragedy that should never be forgotten. It is time for the British government to finally apologise, he wrote. Our thoughts are with all those who died. Colonial-era records show about 400 people died when soldiers opened fire on men, women and children in the enclosed area, but Indian figures put the toll at closer to 1,000.