London, United Kingdom (March 22, 2014): It is learnt that a three-member delegation of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) has demanded an apology from Prime Minister David Cameron for Britain’s role in the build-up to the Indian army’s June 1984 attack on Darbar Sahib in Amritsar.
The delegation led by DSGMC president Manjit Singh GK met Giles Thompson, head of South Asia affairs in the British foreign office, on Friday and delivered a letter to Cameron, seeking the apology.
Manjit Singh GK said after the meeting that besides the apology, the delegation also demanded an inquiry by a joint commission comprising judicial officers of both countries and representatives of the Sikh community.
He claimed that Thompson had assured the delegation that the apology demand would be conveyed to the PM and a decision taken at the highest level. The letter referred to the recently declassified British documents that suggested that in February 1984, India had sought and the-then Margaret Thatcher government in the UK had agreed to extend military advice to deal with the difficult situation in the Darbar Sahib Complex at Amritsar.
The delegation also sought the return of the Sikh artefacts and scriptures kept in various British museums, or suggested placing them under one roof in a London gallery. “The suggestion was well received and we were assured that it would be passed on to the relevant ministry,” said Manjit Singh GK.