UK must apologise for Jallianwala massacre, return Kohinoor diamond to Lahore: Chaudhary Fawad Hussain

Pakistan: Pakistan’s Information and Broadcasting Minister Chaudhary Fawad Hussain on Thursday said that the UK must apologise to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and the Bengal famine. In his tweet on Thursday, Hussain called the two tragedies a “scar on the face of Britain.” Notably, he further demanded the Kohinoor diamond be returned to Lahore museum.

“Fully endorse the demand that British empire must apologise to the nations of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh on Jallianwala Massacre and Bengal famine .. these tragedies are the scar on the face of Britain, also KohENoor must be returned to Lahore museum where it belongs,” the tweet read. Hussain’s statement comes a day after British Prime Minister Theresa May said that the United Kingdom “deeply regrets” the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre and called it a “shameful scar” on the British-Indian history.

“The tragedy of Jallianwalla Bagh in 1919 is a shameful scar on the British-Indian history. As her Majesty, the Queen said before visiting Jallianwala Bagh 1997, it is a distressing example of our past history with India. We deeply regret what happened and the suffering caused,” May said at the British Parliament.

Hundred years on, the United Kingdom is yet to give a full apology for the gruesome attack on unarmed protesters in Amritsar in 1919.The Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place on 13 April 1919 when troops of the British Indian Army under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer fired machine guns into a crowd of unarmed protesters, along with Baishakhi pilgrims, who had gathered in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, Punjab. The UK government had released figures stating that 379 innocent people had died while 1,200 were wounded in the brutal tragedy.