Jallianwala Bagh – a ‘shameful event in British history’: UK PM David Cameron
On a visit to Amritsar, British Prime Minister David Cameron described the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919 as “a deeply shameful event in British history.”
“We must never forget what happened here,” he said of the shooting of nearly 1000 peaceful Indian protestors by British troops on the orders of General Reginald Dyer.
“This was a deeply shameful act in British history, one that Winston Churchill rightly described at that time as ‘monstrous.’ We must never forget what happened here and we must ensure that the UK stands up for the right of peaceful protests around the world”, Mr Cameron wrote in the visitors’ book at the memorial site. Before that, he paid his respects at the holiest shrine for the Sikh religion, the Golden Temple.
Mr Cameron’s three-day visit to India has focused heavily on the potential of Indo-British ties, particularly business collaborations.
The gesture, coming on the third and final day of a visit to India aimed at drumming up trade and investment. British Prime Minister David Cameron visited the site of a colonial-era massacre in India on Wednesday, February 20, 2013, describing the episode as “deeply shameful” while stopping short of a public apology.
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