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‘It's our responsibility to apologize to India for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre': UK MP Bob Blackman
Bob Blackman, a five-time Conservative MP from Harrow East, London says it is the responsibility of the UK government to apologize to India for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Punjab's Amritsar on April 13, 1919. In an interview with The Indian Express via web conferencing, Blackman also accepts the presence Khalistani separatists in UK, but adds that are a small minority.
Excerpts:
Time and again, you have demanded from successive governments in your country that the UK must apologize to India for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. As a Britisher, why do you feel that the apology must come?
What came as an eye-opener for me was a visit to the (Jallianwala) Bagh in Amritsar. Of course, we can talk about the massacre, about terrible events that took place, from afar but I have to confess, I was ignorant about several things before I actually visited the Bagh. And when you see the site of the massacre, where those innocent people had gathered on the auspicious day of Baisakhi, just to be with family and friends– you realize how tragic it was. They were not a threat to anyone. And then, the troops marched in, literally shooting at them till they ran out of ammunition. For us, as Britishers, to pretend that it never happened, is not right.
So why do you think that despite your repeated demand, the apology hasn't come even after more than a century.
I led a debate on the centenary of the massacre in our Parliament in 2019, urging the then government to issue an apology to India. The then PM, Theresa May, 'regretted' the massacre and called it a 'shameful scar' in British-India history but stopped short of issuing a formal apology which I think was extremely regrettable. Had we apologized then, it would have been far better. I reiterated that demand earlier this year as well on the massacre's 106th anniversary. Whatever wrong things were done in the name of the British Empire around the world, they should be apologized for. We can't be responsible for actions taken by our forebears, but what we can do is to say, look, it was wrong, and we are sorry.
So what convinces you to consistently ask your own country for an apology to India even as it hasn't happened yet? Is it some guilt as a Britisher?
No, I don't carry any guilt as I wasn't the one to order that firing. But I do not feel any hesitation in saying that what was done was wrong, absolutely wrong, it should not have been done and we should apologize. It is equally regrettable to see the length of time that it has taken to drag out an apology, given the huge number of people who lost their lives. At the Bagh, when you see that well, where so many people jumped inside to escape firing, you realize it was a terrible way to die. So for me, it's not a feeling of guilt, this is our responsibility. It was one of those incidents that if you don't apologize, it will continue to be a running sore. We can't bring those people back but can say that what happened to them was utterly wrong.
Coming to the recent developments between India and Pakistan, you met the Indian Parliamentarians' delegation post Operation Sindoor. Your views on the meeting.
We absolutely condemn the heartrending terrorist attack that took place in Pahalgam. We were given to understand that India's recent military action against terror bases in Pakistan was not just about Pahalgam, but several terrorist attacks that have taken place in the past. The sad reality however is, that no one's quite sure of who's incharge in Pakistan, whether it's their so-called elected government or their generals and military who seem to be literally calling the shots. It was made clear to us by the visiting delegation that India is, and will react proportionally to the attacks from the Pakistani side, if any.
So what do you think Pakistan can do to stop fostering terrorism on its soil?
First, Pakistan should remove the terror bases that exist along the line of control, whether for training terrorists or facilitating the entry of terrorists into sovereign India. It is pretty clear that Pakistan is, at the very least, not just tolerating the terrorist camps, but probably almost certainly encouraging them, because anything that destabilizes India seems to be good news for Pakistan, which I think is regrettable. Equally, there are reports of Pakistan linked terrorists tunneling into the Kashmir Valley. Pakistan has even attacked in the Punjab and the Indian forces had to thwart attacks on the Golden Temple, for example, which is a direct threat to religious places of worship, which is outrageous. The second thing that Pakistan can do is to withdraw their military forces from Jammu and Kashmir, end the illegal occupation and allow it to be part of India, as was always intended back in 1947.
The US President, Donald Trump, has been regularly trying to portray that he was the one who got this ceasefire done, whereas India has denied that and they said that it was Pakistan, which had requested the ceasefire. Your comments.
As we know, the Americans have been strong supporters of Pakistan for quite a long time. Indeed, during the Bangladesh war of independence 1971, the Americans were on the Pakistani side. I think India takes a very strong stance on these things and quite rightly so. India has suffered at hands of terrorism and was going to make sure that the terrorists understood that they will not be allowed to gain ground, they will not be allowed to terrify the people of Kashmir and there would be grave consequences of any such act in future. I know that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has built a good relationship with the Americans, quite rightly too, that's good news for India. It's good news for world trade. And indeed, we want India to be part of the democracies of the world that encourage justice and peace. But I think we should be very clear that the initiative for a ceasefire came from Pakistan, not from India. Because basically India was saying, if you attack us, we're going to attack you back, but we are not going to be the aggressors.
The separatist Khalistani elements have been flourishing on UK soil. India has raised this several times. Your take.
Yes. And I've called them out. We've had these pro-Khalistan demonstrations outside the Indian High Commission in London. And indeed, when Prime Minister Modi or other key visitors from India have been on official visits to the UK, there have been such demonstrations.
But this is a very small minority. I think we should be very clear that in the UK, the vast majority of British Sikhs do not agree with a so-called independent Khalistan. The vast majority of Sikhs are loyal to Britain now and indeed maintain their loyalty to India and don't want to see this misguided campaign.
I've called on the police to take firm action outside the Indian High Commission when Khalistanis have demonstrated. I've called them out for what they are, thugs and potentially terrorists. And we need to ensure that the police and the security services take every action necessary to ensure they can't cause problems. There's nothing wrong with people demonstrating peacefully on what they have to say as long as they're not causing criminal damage or intimidating people.
