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UK Foreign Office hastily pulls off files ‘detailing UK role’ in notorious Indian army attack on Sikhs in June 1984
November 5, 2016 | By Sikh Siyasat Bureau
Chandigarh/ London: As per reports in British media scores of declassified British secret files were pulled from the British National Archives amid fears they detail British involvement in the Indian Army’s attack on Darbar Sahib, Amritsar in June 1984.
According to the Times, papers were released from Whitehall to the National Archives this summer but recalled abruptly after the Sikh Federation UK, a UK based Sikh activists grouo, wrote to Boris Johnson to tell him they had found ‘delicate information’ relating to ‘UK military assistance to India’.
According to the Daily Mail UK, a note found by a researcher referred to the possibility of SAS involvement after ‘an Indian request for military assistance in the setting up of a National Guard for internal security duties’.
“According to the Sikh Federation, the note was written by a civil servant in the Foreign Office’s South Asia department in July, 1984, and was copied to Ministry of Defence official and the high commissioner in Delhi”, notes Daily Mail.
Hundreds of Sikhs were killed in cold blood in early days of June 1984 when Indian froces attacked Darbar Sahib, Amritsar and other Sikh Gurdwaras.
It may be recalled that in 2014, it was revealed that through declassified secret documents that the Britain had a role in Indian Army’s attack on Darbar Sahib, Amritsar which was codenamed as Operation Blue Star.
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“A review called for by David Cameron was criticised as having too narrow a scope, and concluded that the UK provided expert military advice after an urgent request from the Indian Intelligence Co-Coordinator”, notes Daily Mail.
After the discovery of the ‘delicate information’ in the archives, human rights lawyers have written to the Foreign Secretary on behalf of Boris Johnson asking for another review.
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The call comes shortly before Prime Minister Theresa May’s diplomatic visit to India next week.
A statement released on the Sikh Federation’s Twitter said: ‘On the eve of her critical trade visit to India, she [Mrs May] is being pressured to come clean about the role played by the SAS in the Sikh genocide in the 1980s.
‘There is increasing evidence that Margaret Thatcher’s administration worked more closely with the Indian government than was known at the time” reads another tweet by @SikhFedUK.
The Sikh body hadst demanded that there should be a full and independent investigation into British involvement in June 1984 Indian Army attack on Darbar Sahib and other Sikh Gurdwaras.
As per Daily Mail, a government spokesman for the Foreign Office said: ‘The FCO borrowed some of their files from 1984 that were released to the National Archives so they could read the content following concerns raised by the Sikh Federation. They will return all the files in full shortly.
‘The issue of SAS advice prior to Operation Blue Star was dealt with in the 2014 report by the Cabinet Secretary. These files contain nothing about this incident.’
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Related Topics: 1984 Sikh Genocide, June 1984 attack on Sikhs, Sikh Diaspora, Sikh Federation UK, Sikh News UK, Sikhs in United Kingdom, UK and June 1984 attack on Sikhs
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