Congress party president Rahul Gandhi, center, with others pays homage to commemorate century of the Jallianwala Bagh incident, in Amritsar, India, Saturday, April 13, 2019. On April 13, 1919, hundreds were killed and more than 1,200 injured after British troops led by Reginald Dyer opened fire on a peaceful gathering at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar. (AP Photo/Prabhjot Gill)
April 13, 2019 - 12:45 AM
NEW DELHI - The British envoy to India said Saturday that his country regrets a massacre of hundreds of Indians by British colonial forces in the northwest city of Amritsar 100 years ago and "will continue to do so."
He spoke at a memorial marking the centenary of the attack at Jallianwala Bagh by British colonial troops against unarmed Indians attending a peaceful rally calling for independence.
More than 300 Indians were killed and 1,200 injured during the massacre, which galvanized the national independence movement.
"The revulsion that we felt at the time is still strong today," British High Commissioner Dominic Asquith said as he paid tribute at the Jallianwala Bagh memorial in Amritsar.
"I would just ask you to respect what I came here to do, which was to commemorate those who died 100 years ago,to express the sorrow of the British government and of the British people," Asquith said. "But I would repeat what I said; both governments are committed to building a very strong relationship."
British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday called the killings a "shameful scar" in British-Indian history but stopped short of formally apologizing.
News from © The Associated Press, 2019