London: In the last five days since Theresa May returned from her trade visit to India at least 120 MPs from five different political parties have had letters from constituents urging them to write to the Prime Minister urging her to take action to address concerns that have been raised.
Some of these MPs have confirmed that they have already written to the Prime Minister as requested and others have confirmed they are taking up the matter with Ministers that Parliament was misled and the Sir Jeremy Heywood review in 2014 was inadequate. The Prime Minister, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary are expected to receive dozens of letters each day from MPs this week and questions could be raised in Parliament.
Pressure grows on Theresa May to come clean on UK involvement with the Indian security forces in assisting in the Sikh Genocide in the 1980s | Image used for representational purpose only
Ten days ago The Times carried an exclusive article titled: ‘Files on Sikh massacre are withdrawn ‘to hide SAS role’ and the Daily Mail an article titled ‘Did the SAS kill at Amritsar? Foreign Office hastily recalls files ‘detailing UK role’ in notorious Indian army crackdown on Sikhs’. Later the same day the Labour Party issued an official statement calling for a ‘full independent investigation’ and virtually every Indian newspaper the next day carried a story similar to the one in The Indian Express titled: ‘Labour Party asks PM Theresa May to clarify Britain’s role in 1984 Operation Blue Star’. The Labour Party has stated the Sikh community deserved to know the truth of British involvement following ‘new evidence’ unearthed by the Sikh Federation (UK).
A Sikh Federation (UK) spokesman said: “At least 120 MPs have been contacted in the last five days demonstrating the Sikh community want the government led by Theresa May to come clean. Elected representatives and the public deserve to know the truth of UK involvement before, during and after the Sikh Genocide in the 1980s.”
“Everyone now knows we have evidence that the Indian authorities requested further assistance in June 1984, immediately after the massacre and rather than refuse to provide assistance officials agreed SAS assistance ‘would be very valuable’. The existence of a file called ‘Indian National Security Guard’ that is not being released in its entirety by the Foreign Office suggests assistance was almost certainly not a ‘one off’ as stated by William Hague and completely undermines what he told Parliament in February 2014 and calls into question the integrity and adequacy of Sir Jeremy Heywood’s internal review.”
“We have been preparing a ‘dossier’ since February 2014 piecing together evidence from the very limited number of files being released since 2014 and combining this with community intelligence of what happen in the 1980s. Lawyers will decide how best and when we use this evidence, but it will show how the British authorities in the 1980s worked to not only assist at the Indian end, but also took worrying anti-Sikh measures in the UK demanded by India.”
“Theresa May now has an opportunity to restore confidence of the British Sikh community in the present government and to be transparent about the shortcomings of the past on UK involvement or have this drag on and played out in the political arena, in the media and the courts.”