100 years on, UK may not apologise for Jallianwala

100 years on, UK may not apologise for Jallianwala

1. India is still hopeful of an apology from the U.K government as 100 years of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre approaches. Last year, UK Foreign Secretary had said that he would give consideration to the suggestion that the U.K. should mark the anniversary by seeking forgiveness from the Indian people for one of the worst crimes of the colonial period.
2. Jallianwala Bagh massacre is also known as the Amritsar Massacre. On 13th April 1919, thousands of people were gathered at Jallianwala Bagh to condemn the arrest and deportation of two national leaders Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew.
3. Colonel Reginald Dyer had announced curfew and a ban on all processions that even prohibited a group of 4 or more people to meet publicly. However, General Dyer sensed the number of people present there and the secret meeting that was about to take place.
4. Thus, he arrived with armed troops and ordered to open fire. The troops were ordered to start shooting, this heinous act of violence resulted in extreme mass killing.
5. The British government had then appointed the Hunter Commission to inquire into the happenings. The ineffective inquiry and the initial accolades for Dyer by the House of Lords fuelled widespread anger was one of the causes of the Non-cooperation Movement of 1920–22.