Jallianwala Bagh: UK ‘reflecting’ on apology demand

The Theresa May government is ‘reflecting’ on the long-standing demand that Britain apologise for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in which hundreds of men, women and children were killed.

The Theresa May government is ‘reflecting’ on the long-standing demand that Britain tender an official apology for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre when its centenary is marked on April 13, the day hundreds of people were killed in an event that is seared into Indian memory and history.

The well at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar in which people had jumped to escape the bullets fired by Gen Dyer’s troops on April 13, 1919. (HT Photo)

Responding to a debate in the House of Lords on Tuesday evening on ‘Amritsar Massacre: Centenary’, Annabel Goldie, baroness-in-waiting and government whip, said she is aware how passionately the issue is felt, and noted that the government at the time had condemned the atrocity.

Goldie recalled that foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, when asked by the Foreign Affairs Committee in October 2018 if 2019 might be an appropriate moment to formally apologise, had said: “That is a very profound thought; let me reflect on that, but I can understand why that could be a potentially very significant gesture”.

Goldie added at the end of the debate: “The Foreign Secretary is currently doing that - reflecting on the situation - and I can say that the views expressed in this debate are certainly noted and will be conveyed back to the department”.

“I understand that the reason is that governments have considered that history cannot be rewritten and it is important that we do not get trapped by the past. We must also look forward to the future and do all we can to prevent atrocities happening,” she added.

During a visit in 1997, Queen Elizabeth had said at the memorial: “History cannot be rewritten, however much we might sometimes wish otherwise. It has its moments of sadness, as well as gladness. We must learn from the sadness and build on the gladness”.

But there has never been an official policy or statement of regret, Kenneth Morgan (Labour) pointed out, recalling that the Duke of Edinburgh’s off-the-cuff remarks questioning the number or casualties during the 1997 visit had made matters “somewhat worse”.

Karan Bilimoria, a cross-bench lord, said: “It is not too late for the British government to apologise.... The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did just that in 2016, when he apologised for Canada’s actions in the atrocities a century earlier, when the Indian immigrants on the ‘Komagata Maru’ were denied permission to land in Vancouver, thereby sending many of them to their deaths. Why can Britain not do this?”

Meghnad Desai (Labour) noted that the House of Lords had passed a motion condoning Gen Reginald Dyer, who had ordered troops to open fire on the unarmed gathering. The House of Commons had criticised his actions, but not the upper house.

Instead, Desai noted that the House of Lords debated and passed this motion in July 1920: “That this House deplores the conduct of the case of General Dyer as unjust to that officer, and as establishing a precedent dangerous to the preservation of order in face of rebellion”.

He told the House: “I think we ought to reflect on this, when we get the chance.... (We) should ask ourselves whether we should not apologise to the world for what this House did. That at least we can do ourselves - we do not need the permission of the government”.

Speakers during the debate included Raj Loomba, Sandip Verma and Ranbir Singh Suri.