JALLIANWALA BAGH APOLOGY ISSUE IS WORK IN PROGRESS: UK
Wednesday, 10/04/2019
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LONDON: British minister Mark Field on Tuesday said seeking an apology for the April 13, 1919, Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar is a “work in progress” among ministers, officials and the British high commission in New Delhi.
Responding to a debate in parliament, the foreign office minister repeated London’s hitherto policy of expressing “deep regret”, and added that there is an “ongoing sense of consideration” in the government over the issue. “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,” he said.
“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 said the high commission had been asked to visit the memorial site in Amritsar on April 13 and lay a wreath. There will also be a public acknowledgement of the centenary and a sense of “deep regret” in events organised in the UK, he said.
