On April 13, 1919, close to 1,000 peaceful protesters were shot dead by British troops in a park in Amritsar, Punjab.

A century later, Conservative MP Bob Saroya has asked the British parliament to make an official apology for the infamous Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

Addressing a gathering at the Surrey Vaisakhi parade on Saturday (April 20) from the Spice Radio stage, Saroya insisted that Indians have not forgotten that dark chapter in their history.   

The Markham-Unionville MP was accompanied by fellow party colleagues, including former cabinet minister Kerry-Lynne Findlay and Surrey-Newton candidate Harpreet Singh.

The 1919 mass killings happened during Vaisakhi celebrations and this year marks the centenary of the bloody episode.

Back then, the demonstrators gathered in protest against repressive colonial laws and the arrests of leaders of the passive resistance movement against the British occupation of India.

The incident galvanized the freedom movement, culminating in the end of British rule in 1947.

Saroya was the only Indo-Canadian politician who raised this issue from the Spice Radio stage during the  Vaisakhi parade. His party colleague, Harpreet Singh, endorsed the demand.

A campaign for a formal apology has already been underway in B.C.

Among the groups that launched it here are Mehak Punjab Di TV and the Prof. Mohan Singh Memorial Foundation.

Sahib Thind of the Prof. Mohan Singh Memorial Foundation recently visited England to lobby for an apology for the massacre in the British Parliament. While British Prime Minister Theresa May has expressed only regret for the incident, Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn had asked for full apology.

Thind met Corbyn personally to help him understand the importance of an apology. Thind was also instrumental behind the official apology for the Komagata Maru incident by the Canadian government.

The Japanese vessel was carrying more than 350 South Asian passengers when it was forcibly returned to India from Canada under discriminatory immigration laws in 1914. 

Likewise, Kamaljit Singh Thind of Mehak Punjab Di TV has started an online petition seeking a British apology for Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

He is also instrumental behind annual vigils organized in Surrey every year in memory of the victims of Jallianwala Bagh incident and has been organizing exhibitions depicting the tragedy at Vaisakhi parades in Vancouver and Surrey.