Rahul to pay homage to Jallianwala Bagh martyrs on Saturday

Congress President Rahul Gandhi will visit the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial here on Saturday morning to pay homage to hundreds of people, who were massacred by British forces on April 13, 1919.

Rahul arrived here in the holy city late on Friday night.

After arriving here, Rahul, accompanied by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, paid a visit to Golden Temple complex where he offered prayers at the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikh religion.

The sanctum sanctorum of 'Harmandir Sahib' was closed for the night when the Congress chief arrived.

April 13 (Saturday) marks the 100th anniversary of the massacre, in which British forces led by Brigadier General Reginald Dyer opened fire on hundreds of unarmed, innocent Indians, including women and children, who were protesting peacefully against the oppressive Rowlatt Act of the British government.

The massacre, on April 13, 1919, is one of the darkest chapters of India's freedom struggle against the British occupation.

Hundreds of people, including students, local residents and visitors, held a candlelight march in Amritsar on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre on Friday evening.

The British government, even after 100 years, has only regretted the massacre but stopped short of apologising for the killing of so many innocent people.

Rejecting the regret expressed by British Prime Minister Theresa May as "inadequate", Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday demanded "an unequivocal official apology from Britain" for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

Terming the tragic event "a heart-wrenching moment in India's history", Amarinder said that the people of India wanted an unequivocal apology from Britain for the atrocity.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu will arrive here on Saturday afternoon for the main function to commemorate the 100 years of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

--IANS

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