"I'm clear that the (UK) government should now apologise, especially as we reach the centenary of the massacre... Read More

AMRITSAR: Sadiq Khan , the first Asian-origin mayor of London, on Wednesday called on the UK government to formally apologise for the April 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre by British Indian Army soldiers.

Khan, who was in Amritsar as part of his six-day mission to India and Pakistan, called the massacre one of the most horrific events in Indian history. "I'm clear that the (UK) government should now apologise, especially as we reach the centenary of the massacre. This is about properly acknowledging what happened here and giving the people of Amritsar and India the closure they need through a formal apology," Khan said as he visited the Jallianwala Bagh memorial and paid respects.

The UK has never extended a formal apology for the massacre in which hundreds of people were killed. In February 2013, the then UK Prime Minister David Cameron had described the massacre as a "deeply shameful event", falling short of a formal apology during his visit to Amritsar.

Khan, who is of Pakistani origin, made it clear that a formal apology should have been made by the UK government decades ago. "The Jallianwala Bagh massacre is one of the most horrific events in Indian history. It is wrong that successive British governments have fallen short of delivering a formal apology to the families of those who were killed."

