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UK: Issue of Jallianwala Bagh apology is work in progress
Responding to a debate in Westminster Hall, foreign office minister Mark Field confined himself to repeating London’s hitherto policy of expressing ‘deep regret’.
The Theresa May government on Tuesday assured MPs seeking an apology for the April 13, 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre that the issue is a ‘work in progress’ among ministers, officials and the British high commission in New Delhi, suggesting it may happen later in the year.
Responding to a debate in Westminster Hall, foreign office minister Mark Field confined himself to repeating London’s hitherto policy of expressing ‘deep regret’, and added that there is an ‘ongoing sense of consideration’ in the government on the issue.
He said: “It is not appropriate for me today to make the apology I know many would wish to come. I can assure the house that this is a work in progress. It is an active debate taking place among ministers and among senior officials and our high commissioner in New Delhi.”
“I recognise the enduring and very deep feelings and emotions this incident raises not just here in the house but continues to raise across the world…This was a tragedy and a shameful episode in British history”.
Field’s remarks complement those of foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, when asked by the Foreign Affairs Committee in October 2018 if 2019 might be an appropriate moment to apologise, 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”.
Field said the British high commission had been asked to visit the memorial site on April 13 and lay a wreath. There will also be a public acknowledgement of the centenary and the sense of ‘deep regret’ in events organised in the UK, he added.
Conservative MP Bob Blackman, who secured the debate, said in an emotional speech that he is ashamed that the incident occurred “in my name”, and said its centenary is an appropriate time for the government to tender a full apology.
Senior Labour MP Virendra Sharma said the apology should be tendered by Prime Minister Theresa May in the House of Commons, and called for its history to be taught in schools in the United Kingdom, among other aspects of Britain’s past.
All MPs in the debate supported the apology demand, including those with sizeable population of the Sikh community in their constituencies, such as Emma Reynolds (Wolverhampton North East). MPs from Scotland, Wales as well as England joined the debate.
