Hundred years after thousands of innocent Indians were gunned down by the British army At Amritsar’s Jallianwala Bagh on the fateful Baisakhi day, Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution to pressurise the British Government to “officially apologise” for the massacre way back in 1919.
The resolution comes on a day the UK Government maintained that it was “reflecting on demands for a formal apology” for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in April 1919 during the British Raj.
As per reports, the UK Minister Baroness Annabel Goldie told the House of Lords during a debate to mark the centenary of the attack titled ‘Amritsar Massacre: Centenary’ on Tuesday evening also confirmed plans to mark 100 years since the tragedy “in the most appropriate and respectful way”.
Punjab Vidhan Sabha, in a befitting tribute to the martyrs of Jallianwala Bagh massacre during its centenary year, come together to pass the resolution, moved by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brahm Mohindra, to mount pressure on the Centre for seeking a formal apology from the British Government for one of the worst ever bloodbaths in the world.
Moving the resolution, Mohindra said that it was a dastardly act perpetrated upon the innocent people who had converged at the Jallianwala Bagh on the fateful day of Baisakhi on April 13, 1919, to protest against Rowlatt Act of the Imperial rulers.
Even the British Government of the time had realised the gravity of the irresponsible act, as evident in the premature superannuation of General Dyer from the British Army, said the Minister, pointing out that Noble Laureate Rabindranath Tagore had returned the title of Knighthood in protest.
Urging the Speaker Rana KP Singh to put the resolution to voice vote by the Assembly, Mohindra said that in light of these facts it was high time for India to prevail upon the British Government to tender an apology to assuage the bruised psyche of our countrymen and fellow Indian diaspora settled across the globe.
Later, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh expressed hope that the resolution would strengthen the case of others who were fighting for the apology in the House of the Lords, where a debate on the issue was going on.