The legislator of the Conservative Party of the opposition of Great Britain, Bob Blackman, asked the United Kingdom government on Thursday to apologize “formally” by the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre of 1919.
Speaking in the House of Commons, the lower house of the British Parliament, Blackman said: “On April 13, 1919, families gathered, very peacefully, in Jallianwala Bagh to enjoy the day with their families. General Dyer, in the name of the British army, marched to their troops and ordered their troops to shoot those innocent people until they exhausted themselves in ammunition.”
The British deputy described the incident as “stain in the British empire.” At the end of that massacre, 1,500 people were dead and 1,200 wounds. Finally, General Dyer was dishonored for this spot in the British empire. “
He added: “So, could we have a government statement by admitting what came out badly and formally by apologizing to the people of India?”
Jallianwala Bagh’s massacre took place on April 13, 1919 in Amritsar, Punjab, during the British colonial domain in India. The British troops, under the command of the Brigade General Reginald Dyer, shot indiscriminately for a peaceful meeting of unarmed civilians, including women and children. The crowd had gathered to celebrate Baisakhi and protest against Rowlatt’s law, which allowed the British government to arrest and detain the Indians without trial.
Dyer blocked the only way out and ordered his soldiers to shoot without prior notice. Estimates suggest that more than 500 people died.
Then, the British prime minister, Theresa May, in 2019, expressed a deep “repentance” for Jallianwala Bagh’s massacre, calling it “a shameful scar in the history of British India.” But it was not to make an apology.