LONDON: British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday expressed regret for a massacre by British troops in India in 1919, but stopped short of a full apology.

“We deeply regret what happened and the suffering caused,” May told the British parliament.

Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, called for “a full, clear and unequivocal apology”.

The April 13, 1919, Jallianwala Bagh massacre, in which British troops opened fire on thousands of unarmed protesters, remains an enduring scar from British colonial rule.

Colonial-era records show about 400 people died in Amritsar when soldiers ope­ned fire in an enclosed area, but Indian figures put the toll at closer to 1,000.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2019