British parliament to debate massacre at Jallianwala Bagh

Hundreds of people were killed when British troops under Brig-Gen Reginald Dyer’s command fired on a crowd of unarmed Indians at the Jallianwala Bagh on April 13, 1919.

British Parliament’s upper house will debate the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar on February 19 amid renewed calls for Britain’s apology for the bloodbath in the run-up to its centenary.

There are renewed calls for Britain to tender an apology for the Jallainwala Bagh massacre, whose centenary on April 13 will see a debate in the House of Lords that had condoned the actions of Brig-Gen Reginald Dyer in July 1920. (PTI)

Hundreds of people were killed when British troops under Brig-Gen Reginald Dyer’s command fired on a crowd of unarmed Indians at the Jallianwala Bagh on April 13, 1919.

Indian-origin British parliamentarians, Lord Meghnad Desai and Lord Raj Loomba, have initiated the debate in the House of Lords, which had condoned Dyer’s action.

The demands for an apology over the massacre and Britain’s plans to commemorate the centenary would also be discussed during the debate, according to the Jallianwala Bagh Centenary Commemoration Committee (JBCCC) formed for the purpose.

Desai and Loomba wrote to Prime Minister Theresa May and requested an official apology on behalf of the JBCCC, according to the committee.

Sardar Balbir Singh Kakar, heads the JBCCC. Author Kishwar Desai, former Indian ambassador to the US, Navtej Sarna, British lawmaker Virendra Sharma, and Rajinder Singh Chadha are other members of the panel.

The same exhibition will be held in Manchester, London, and Birmingham in April with Manchester Museum’s help.

“There are also requests to send the exhibitions to various cities in India and around Punjab,’’ said Desai.

The exhibition themed Punjab under Siege — the Jallianwala Bagh Centenary (1919-2019) — will depict the impact of the massacre.

It will focus on how it was a part of much larger colonial oppression in Punjab, and wounded Punjab’s psyche, according to Kishwar Desai.

Prime Minister David Cameron visited Amritsar’s Jallianwala Bagh memorial in 2013 and described it as a “deeply shameful event”.

He did not apologise, saying: “I think the right thing is to acknowledge what happened, to recall what happened, to show respect and understanding for what happened.”