London: UK’s Opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn has written to British Prime Minister Theresa May (copy available with the Sikh Siyasat News) calling for a fresh and independent probe into British government’s involvement in the June 1984 attack on Sikhs.
Jeremy Corbyn’s letter to Downing Street, dated January 4, reads as follows:
Commenting on this issue, Bhai Amrik Singh, Chair of the Sikh Federation (UK) said: “We are grateful the Labour Leader has written to Theresa May to call for a fresh, independent investigation and deliver the British public transparency on the UK role in assisting the Indian authorities in the attempted Genocide of the Sikhs in the 1980s and also silencing the Sikh voice of protest in the UK.”
“Based upon the new information we have discovered Jeremy Corbyn has questioned the effectiveness, accuracy and integrity of the internal review by the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood that was commissioned by David Cameron in January 2014”, said Bhai Amrik Singh.
Attack on Darbar Sahib by Indian Army in June 1984 [File Photo]
“We hope Theresa May realises British Sikhs will continue to call for transparency and this can only be delivered through an independent investigation that has full access to all relevant papers. We deserve the truth and not the whitewash presented to Parliament and the community in February 2014”, added he.
Notably, in 2014, some declassified secret documents of British Government had pointed towards involvement of Britain in June 1984 attack by Indian Army on Darbar Sahib, Amritsar.
The then British Prime Minister David Cameron, in 2014, had ordered the Heywood Review into the exact nature of British involvement in the Indian Army’s attack on Darbar Sahib in June 1984.
The report concluded that the nature of the UK’s assistance was “purely advisory” and provided to the Indian government at an early stage of planning.
Rejecting the findings of that report, the Sikh diaspora groups in UK have been demanding full and independent inquiry into the matter.