UK Conservative MP, Bob Blackman, late on Thursday, said late on Thursday that he demanded that the UK government apologized to India on the anniversary of the Grim Jalianwala Bagh massacre.
Speaking in the UK Parliament, Blackman highlighted the incidents of April 13, 1919, and said thousands of innocent citizens were killed and injured in shooting in Jalianwala Bagh.
“Today, I picked up the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. I formally asked the government to give an apology to the people of India from the anniversary of Atrocity,” he said.
Today, I raised the Jalianwala Bagh massacre.
I formally asked the government to apologize to the anniversary of atrocities to the people of India.
Today, I raised the Jalianwala Bagh massacre.
I formally asked the government to apologize to the anniversary of atrocities to the people of India. pic.twitter.com/umhy38ish
– Bob Blackman (@Bobblackman) 27 March, 2025
In a video related to the post, Blackman was seen saying that on April 13, 1919, General Dyer ordered the British soldiers to set fire to innocent citizens, who had gathered peacefully in Jalianwala Bagh.
“Now, on April 13, 1919, the family gathered very peacefully in Jalianwala Bagh to enjoy the sun, enjoy a day with their families. General Dyer marched on behalf of the British Army, march his soldiers and ordered to set fire to those innocent people until they were out of the namaz that was closed.”
Blackman said that in 2019, the then Prime Minister Theresa May recognized this massacre, but did not give a statement to him.
“Finally, General Dyer was humiliated to the British Empire for that stain. In 2019, then the Prime Minister, Theresa May admitted that it was a stain on British colonial rule in India. But can we make a statement during the government’s time? This year’s anniversary will be on 13 April this year, when we can make a statement.”
Another MP in Parliament thanked Blackman for increasing the issue, referring to the massacre as one of the most notorious and embarrassing episodes in the history of British colonialism.
“Can I thank him for raising this important matter of Jaliyanwala Bagh massacre, as he says, is one of the most notorious and embarrassing episodes in the history of British colonialism, especially in India. But I think perhaps more wider than it is,” he said.
She said that she would ensure that the Foreign Office Minister will bring a statement before the anniversary.
“I will fully make sure that the Ministers of the Foreign Office have heard his question today and I would suggest that they might bring out a statement before the anniversary,” he said.
The Jalianwala Bagh Memorial in Punjab recalls 2,000 Indians who were killed or injured, indiscriminately shot by the British under the command of General Michael O ‘Dyer on 13 April 1919, while attending a peaceful public meeting. It was one of the major events of India’s freedom struggle.
The story of this horrific massacre is told in the martyr gallery on the site. A section of the wall with a bullet mark is still visible, preserved with the memorial well, in which some people jumped to escape. “The impossible men of India will increase their maternal land and free”, declared Mahatma Gandhi after the Jallianwala massacre. “This is the severity of the severity of punishment on unfortunate people and the method of taking it out is parallel in the history of the civilized government”, Rabindranath Tagore, Nek Lauriet wrote, while returning the nighthud.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is published by a syndicated feed.)
