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Amritsar: Britain has never apologised for the 1919 massacre at Amritsar in India but the head of the Church of England prostrated himself to say sorry in a personal capacity. British troops fired on thousands of unarmed men, women and children in Amritsar on April 13, 1919, killing 379 people according to colonial-era records. Indian figures put the total closer to 1,000. “I can’t speak for the British Government as I am not an official of the British Government,” Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said as he visited the location in northern India on Tuesday. “I am so ashamed and sorry for the impact of the crime committed. I am a religious leader, not a politician. As a religious leader, I mourn the tragedy we see here,” he added at the site, known in India as Jallianwala Bagh. On Facebook he added that his visit aroused “a sense of profound shame at what happened in this place.” (AFP)
