Jallianwala Bagh Massacre 1919 Centenary Committee – Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/Jallianwalabaghcampaign
The campaign seeks an apology from the British government for the murder by British troops of over 1,000 peaceful demonstrators, who had gathered at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar during the celebration of the Sikh festival Vaisakhi, to protest against repressive laws and arbitrary arrests of independence activists on 13 April 1919.
recordings of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre 1919 Centenary Committee officers at Wolverhampton TUC meeting
The apology sought is similar to that of Bloody Sunday that was condemned by the Cameron government. Blair apologised for the Potato Famine proving that it isn’t too late. Teresa May while PM told the British parliament: “We deeply regret what happened and the suffering caused by the massacre“; she did not offer an absolute apology.
Calls for an apology have been supported by Wolverhampton South East Labour MP Pat McFadden.
House of Commons meeting March 2023 https://liberationorg.co.uk/news-and-views/jallianwala-bagh-massacre-time-for-a-formal-apology/
The campaign also advocates for the need to teach this kind of colonial history in schools. Multicultural Britain has to speak about its worst mistakes.
The campaign is supported by trade union council national conference policy passed in 2019, which encouraged trade union councils to affiliate. Wolverhampton, Bilston & District Trades Union Council has now affiliated.
Claudia Webb MP argues https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/its-well-past-time-government-apologised-jallianwala-bagh-massacre-and-learned-its-lessons that “the Jallianwala Bagh massacre was not an isolated incident but an intrinsic element of the brutal and oppressive colonial system that exploited and oppressed millions, in India and other colonised nations, for centuries.
As many as 29 million died under British rule in India as the empire exported food to Britain while Indian people starved.
Almost two million Africans died during transportation as slaves to British colonies in the Americas.
Up to 100,000 died in concentration camps in Kenya as the country rose up against British rule.
We must all challenge the government’s continued determination to oppress and exploit those who are standing up for their rights and freedoms, in this country and elsewhere.”
An example of a Jallianwala Bagh Education resource produced by a Scottish collective of educational stakeholders (including students, teachers, parents, academics and activists) working toward building an education system that is free from racial injustice and critically engaged with issues of power, identity and privilege https://www.theantiracisteducator.com/post/hidden-histories-jallianwalla-bagh-massacre
further info: https://www.worldhistory.org/Jallianwala_Bagh_Massacre/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jallianwala_Bagh_massacre
Jallianwala Bagh Massacre 1919 Centenary Committee Facebook page was launched in 2022 (see https://fb.watch/c05lxuCcBG/ ).
