The Church of England's Archbishop of Canterbury apologised for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by prostrating himself at the memorial of the tragedy.
Addressing the attack in northwest India, Archbishop Justin Welby tweeted: "I feel a deep sense of grief, humility and profound shame having visited the site of the horrific Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar today. Here, a great number of Sikhs – as well as Hindus, Muslims and Christians – were shot dead by British troops in 1919."
More than 300 Indians were killed and over 1,200 injured on April 13, 1919, when the British Indian Army opened fire on a crowd at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, which is near the city's Golden Temple, the holiest site to the Sikh faith.
Welby stated that he was not speaking on behalf of the British government, but instead was making a personal apology.
“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 said, speaking to the press at the site in Amritsar.
Former British Prime Minister Theresa May stopped short of a formal apology in April when she called the killings a "shameful scar" in British-Indian history.
