Apology long overdue, say Jallianwala martyrs’ kin

CHANDIGARH: “Will I be able to see a formal apology before I go from this world?” wonders Amritsar-based octogenarian Satpal Sharma, after he comes to know about the news of the Labour Party of the UK promising formal apology for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in its election manifesto.

Vishav Bharti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 22

“Will I be able to see a formal apology before I go from this world?” wonders Amritsar-based octogenarian Satpal Sharma, after he comes to know about the news of the Labour Party of the UK promising formal apology for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in its election manifesto. He along with other descendants of martyrs of Jallianwala Bagh massacre has been waiting for a formal apology for the decades.

Satpal Sharma, who is bedridden these days, has been demanding apology for the killing his grandfather Haqim Amin Chand, who fell to bullets on April 13, 1919, in Jallianwala Bagh. “I even protested during Queen Elizabeth-II’s visit in 1997 and demanded apology from her,” he said.

He tells that how he was detained by the police during the then UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit. Satpal says that it is his last wish to get an apology from the UK.

Finally, a hope has arisen among descendants of martyrs of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre after the Labour Party’s promise in its election manifesto that once they come to power, they would issue a formal apology for the massacre.

“We have been waiting for a formal apology from the UK for decades,” says Surinder Singh, nephew of martyr Sunder Singh, who was a talented fresco painter and was killed in the Bagh at the age of 17. Surinder says that an apology is the first step to accept that some injustice has been done deliberately. “We are thankful to the Labour Party and appeal Punjabis to support those whose politics revolve around human compassion,” he says.

The descendants feel that this announcement has potential to heal the century-old wounds. Sunil Kapoor, president of the Jallianwala Bagh Freedom Fighters Foundation and great grandson of Lala Wasoo Mal Kapoor, says they know it can’t bring back the departed souls, but it can certainly bring justice for all the families. But he laments that none of the Union governments have dared to ask the UK to apologise for injustice done in Jallianwala Bagh.