Britain should say sorry for Jallianwala Bagh, says Sadiq

LONDON mayor Sadiq Khan said the British government should apologise for a colonial-era massacre in India as he visited the site this morning (6).

British troops opened fire on thousands of unarmed protesters in the city of Amritsar in Punjab, north India, in the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre, leaving 1,000 dead.

David Cameron described it as deeply shameful when the prime minister visited the memorial in Punjab during a 2013 trip to India, but stopped short of an apology.

Writing in the visitors' book, Khan said it had been "incredibly moving" to see the site of the massacre, calling it a tragedy that should never be forgotten.

"It is time for the British government to finally apologise," he wrote. "Our thoughts are with all those who died."

Colonial-era records show about 400 people died when soldiers opened fire on men, women and children in the enclosed area, but Indian figures put the toll at closer to 1,000.

In 1997, the Queen laid a wreath at Jallianwala Bagh during a tour of India. But Prince Philip reportedly said the Indian estimates for the death count were "vastly exaggerated".

Khan, the son of a Pakistani immigrant bus driver in London, also laid a wreath at a memorial to the victims.

Earlier in the day he visited the Golden Temple, the most revered place for the Sikh religion, where he covered his head with a white cloth and sat cross-legged on the floor to eat at the community kitchen.

Khan later entered Pakistan via the Wagah border crossing.

He reaffirmed his commitment to create a war memorial in central London to honour the Sikh servicemen and women who fought alongside British troops in the First and Second World Wars.

“Britain and the world owe a huge debt to the Sikh servicemen and women who fought alongside British troops during the First and Second World Wars,” Khan said.

“These brave individuals sacrificed an enormous amount to defend the freedoms that we enjoy today and it is only right that there is a memorial in our capital city to honour the Sikhs who fought to preserve our freedoms,” he added.