London Mayor Sadiq Khan has called for the British government to make a “full and formal” apology for the 1919 Amritsar massacre.
During a visit to the Jallianwala Bagh garden in Amritsar, India, on Wednesday, Khan said: “It is wrong that successive British governments have fallen short of delivering a formal apology to the families of those who were killed.
“I’m clear that the government should now apologise, especially as we reach the centenary of the massacre. This is about properly acknowledging what happened here and giving the people of Amritsar and India the closure they need through a formal apology.”
The Labour mayor, who is on a six-day visit to Pakistan and India to strengthen “cultural and business” ties with London, added: “Although our two great countries now have a close relationship in business, culture, education and more, an apology from the British government will go a long way in healing the wounds left by this awful event.”
I’m calling on the British Government to make a full and formal apology to the people of Amritsar and India for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. It is shameful that, almost 100 years later, this has not yet happened. https://t.co/MqYJuyXcef
— Mayor of London (@MayorofLondon) December 6, 2017
The Amritsar massacre saw British Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer order his soldiers, on April 13, 1919, to open fire on a group of Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs protesting colonial rule, resulting in an estimated 400 fatalities – an act condemned at the time by the British government and denounced by then-War Secretary Winston Churchill.
Following Khan’s demands, the British Foreign Office said in a statement: “As the former Prime Minister [David Cameron] said when he visited the Jallianwala Bagh in 2013, the massacre was a deeply shameful act in British history and one that we should never forget.
”It is right that we pay respect to those who lost their lives and remember what happened. The British government rightly condemned the events at the time.”
Sadiq Khan Bringing ‘Gender Neutral’ Toilets to London to ‘Reflect the Incredible Diversity of the City’ https://t.co/e3t2npLrju
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) November 29, 2017
Last week, the London mayor, who as a lawyer had represented terror suspects and Islamist radicals, assumed to speak for the whole country when he called for President of the United States Donald J. Trump to be banned from the UK after he retweeted videos from the deputy leader of the controversial activist group Britain First.
Other far-left and progressive leaders have forced apologies onto nations and their peoples for actions by individuals or past governments against minority groups.
In 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed a resolution apologising to native Hawaiians “on behalf of the people of the United States” for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893. In 2009, President Barack Obama apologised “on behalf of the people of the United States” to Native Americans “for the many instances of violence, maltreatment, and neglect inflicted on Native Peoples by citizens of the United States” for the last three centuries.
Last month, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered a tearful apology and a CA$145 million compensation settlement to “LGBTQ2” civil servants who were subjected to “oppression” and “witch hunts” because of their sexual orientations, declaring: “We were wrong, we apologise. I am sorry. We are sorry… We apologise on behalf of the government, parliament, and the people of Canada.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.