British Premier Lays Wreath at India Massacre Site

Britain's prime minister laid a mourning wreath Wednesday at the site of a notorious 1919 massacre of hundreds of Indians by British colonial forces, calling the killings "a shameful event in British history."

David Cameron was the first British premier to make a gesture of condolence at Jallianwala Bagh in the northwest city of Amritsar, but he stopped short of issuing a formal apology for his country's actions 94 years earlier.

"This is a deeply shameful event in British history ? one that Winston Churchill rightly described at the time as 'monstrous,'" Cameron wrote in the visitors' book at the site. "We must never forget what happened here. And in remembering we must realize that the United Kingdom stands for the right of peaceful protest around the world."

The park was the site of an attack by British colonial troops on unarmed Indians attending a rally calling for independence. More than 300 Indians were killed during the massacre, which galvanized the national independence movement and marked the beginning of the end of Britain's rule over the Indian subcontinent.

Queen Elizabeth II visited the same site in 1997 and laid a wreath there. She called the killings "distressing."

Cameron's visit to Amritsar came at the end of his trip to India. The trip was aimed at boosting trade and investment between the two countries in the areas of energy, infrastructure, insurance, banking and retail.

Source: http://feeds.abcnews.com/click.phdo?i=e3d238d5e50db3e0aeaa7496d6fe3dda

best superbowl commercials 2012 best super bowl ads chrysler super bowl commercial madonna half time show fiat 500 abarth madonna halftime m i a