British High Commissioner Sir Dominic Asquith KCMG reached Amritsar on Friday evening to observe the centenary of Jallianwala Bagh massacre on Saturday. A government functionary said there was no official correspondence or intimation about Asquith’s visit, but it was informally conveyed that he will visit the Jallianwala Bagh on Saturday. Asquith is accompanied by British Deputy High Commissioner Andrew Ayre. Both are likely to lay wreath to pay homage to the victims of the massacre. Amid consistent demands of an apology for the massacre, British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday had fallen short of an apology and had expressed deep “regret” over the massacre. During a debate of Members of Parliament in UK, the chances of an apology had dashed after UK’s Minister of State at the Foreign Office Mark Field was reported to have said that offering apologies for the many events in the past would “debase the currency of apology”. Congress president Rahul Gandhi also arrived at Amritsar late Friday night, and is scheduled to pay homage on Saturday morning in a function organised by the Punjab government. In another function to be organised by Union Ministry of Culture, Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu will pay homage to the victims at an event which will commence at 2:30 pm.
