london mayor Sadiq Khan on Wednesday said that it’s time the British Government apologised for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of April 13, 1919 — a suggestion welcomed by Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh.
“It was incredibly moving to visit Jallianwala Bagh. The tragedy in 1919 on Baisakhi is one we must never forget. It is time for the British Government to finally apologise. Our thoughts are with all those who died,” Khan wrote in the visitor book after paying tributes at the memorial.
later, Khan also tweeted, “I’m calling on the UK Government to make a full and formal apology for the massacre.”
Notably, British monarch Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Phillip visited Jallianwala Bagh in October 1997, but no apology for the massacre was offered.
Former British Prime Minister David Cameroon had also visited the memorial in February 2013, and offered regrets over the killings but stopped short of a formal apology.
Notably, British Indian Army soldiers, under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer, fired machine guns into a crowd of unarmed peaceful protesters, along with Baishakhi pilgrims, who had gathered in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar to participate in annual Baisakhi celebrations and condemn the arrest and deportation of two national leaders, Satya Pal and Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew.
The soldiers blocked the “only” small passage to resulting in the death of over thousand people, while the Colonial era records the death toll at 379.
Welcoming london Mayor’s reported suggestion that the UK Government should apologise for Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Capt Amarinder said that he was happy to know about the Mayor’s feelings in the matter.
“The suggestion, coming from a British Government functionary, is good and, if implemented, would go a long way in further strengthening ties between India and UK, and perhaps, to some extent, assuaging the wounds of Indians who suffered the pain of the independence struggle,” he added.
Earlier, the two leaders met on Tuesday night at a dinner hosted by the Chief Minister for the visiting dignitary at Amritsar.
Various issues of mutual interest were discussed at the meeting, during which Sadiq Khan underscored the close and emotional ties between london and Punjab.
Pointing out that there was a large Punjabi diaspora in london, the Chief Minister said that the two sides shared a strong connect, which they were continuously striving to further strengthen.
In a token gesture, symbolising the shared interest of Punjab and Britain in cricket, the london Mayor presented embossed cricket balls to the Chief Minister and Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, who also represents Amritsar in the State Assembly.
The london mayor arrived in Amritsar on Tuesday evening after visiting Mumbai and Delhi.
Khan, who has his roots in Pakistan, later crossed over to the neighbouring country from the Attari-Wagah joint check post. He will be visiting lahore, Karachi and Islamabad.
His grandparents migrated from Bombay to Pakistan in 1947, from where his family migrated to london in 1960.
AMRITSAR MlAs SEEK DIRECT BRITISH AIRWAYS FlIGHT
The legislators from Amritsar district on Wednesday submitted a memorandum to the london Mayor Sadiq Khan seeking direct British Airways flights between the holy city of Punjab and london, to facilitate personal and business travel.
With more than 35 million pilgrims visiting Amritsar every year to obeisance at the famous Golden Temple, Amritsar had emerged as the preferred destination for the Punjabi diaspora and foreign tourists, the MlAs said in the memorandum.
They pointed that Amritsar Airport, and the overall Punjab region, account for large international traffic to and from North America, Europe (including UK, Germany and Milan) and Australia, but at present, the airport lacks any non-stop flights to these destinations.
“As a result, thousands of people travel by road to take direct non-stop flights between Delhi-london or Delhi-Birmingham. All this traffic can travel direct with a non-stop British Airways flight between london-Amritsar,” said the memorandum, adding that this would lead to a major increase in business apart from making British Airways more popular among the large Punjabi population settled all over the world.
The addition of direct Amritsar-london flight will also enable British Airways to earn two fold businesses, one with the flights to European cities and another from Amritsar to North American sector, the memorandum further said, pointing out that a large population from Punjab is settled in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, San Francisco, New York, Detroit, Birmingham, london, Frankfurt, Milan, and other international destinations served by British Airways.
In the memorandum, the MlAs further pointed out that more than six million Punjabis settled in North America, Europe, Australia, South East Asia and Middle East countries are from the cities served by Sri Guru Ram Das Ji International Airport, Amritsar (ATQ), which is North India’s second largest airport after the Delhi airport.
With runway length of 12,000 feet and all high-end equipment needed to handle wide range of international flight operations and wide bodied aircraft, it has also been used as an alternative to Delhi Airport especially during fog season in winter.
Pointing out that the airport had all the world class facilities available in its integrated terminal building, they further said that the Amritsar airport is currently connected to many international destinations by Qatar airways, Air India, SpiceJet, Malindoair, FlyScoot, Turkmenistan and Uzbek airlines.
KHAN VISITS GOlDEN TEMPlE, DOES KAR-SEWA, PARTAKE lANGAR
Sadiq Khan also visited the internationally-acclaimed Golden Temple to pay obeisance at the holiest of Sikh shrines.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee honoured him with a ‘siropa’ (robe of honour). Khan also partook of the langar and also did sewa by cleaning utensils at the largest community kitchen.
“The Golden Temple, where millions come daily, is a place of spiritualism and brotherhood,” Khan said, praising the hospitality at the shrine.