Queen Elizabeth II India
British Queen Elizabeth II has visited India thrice after the nation gained independence in 1947. The three visits were in the years 1961, 1983 and 1997.
The queen’s 1997 visit was to celebrate 50 years of India’s independence from British rule. But the trip was marred by protests. During the trip, the queen visited the city of Amritsar in Punjab to pay homage at a monument raised in honor of 379 unarmed Indian civilians who were massacred by British forces in 1919 while attending a political rally.
The victims’ relatives and other Indian protesters asked the queen to apologize for the horrific event. But the queen did not respond to the demand and paid her homage to the victims by laying a wreath at the massacre site.
During this tour, Queen Elizabeth II also visited the famous Golden Temple in Amritsar as well as the cities Chennai and Cochin in the south.
