UK Govt Faces Opposition for Withdrawing Files Regarding 1984 Involvement

Posted: 04 Nov 2016

LONDON, UK—The UK government is facing opposition for withdrawing files related to its involvement in assisting the 1984 invasion of Sri Darbar Sahib by the Indian Army. 
In 2014, revelations that UK may have assisted the Indian Army in its deadly 1984 invasion of Sri Darbar Sahib put a strain on British government’s relations with the Sikhs.  The invasion left hundreds dead in June 1984, spurring the assassination of Indira Gandhi, India’s prime minister at the time, by her two Sikh bodyguards four months later. The assassination in turn triggered a cycle of inter-communal violence that resulted in thousands of Sikh deaths in India.
Just a day before her critical trade visit to India, Theresa May is being questioned to release the documents related to British involvement in the 1984 attack.  Fresh evidence reveals that the Foreign Office removed dozens of files relating to the SAS assistance to India in 1984.
The Sikh Federation (UK), is seeking a public inquiry into the matter.  “Lawyers have now written to Home Secretary Amber Rudd demanding an independent investigation into Britain’s role in one of the darkest periods in Sikh history, after new evidence was found at the UK National Archives,” Sikh Federation (UK) told Sikh24.
Official documents released in 1984 suggested that former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sent a British special forces officer to help the Indians as they drew up plans to remove dissident Sikhs from the Golden Temple in early June 1984.  Prime Minister David Cameron at that time asked Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood to investigate the case, but tried to play down Britain’s involvement during parliamentary questions.
“This shows that Parliament was deliberately misled by then Foreign Secretary William Hague in 2014 when he hid the fact that more SAS military assistance for India was considered weeks after the Sikh [massacres] in June 1984.  The Heywood Review was inadequate and the content and conclusions presented to Parliament were inaccurate,” Bhai Amrik Singh of Sikh Federation (UK) said.
Darragh Mackin, Solicitor at KRW LAW LLP said, “The discovery of this fresh evidence yet again casts the spotlight on the British Government for their role in the atrocities committed against the Sikh community in Amritsar in June 1984.  This recent discovery further undermines the effectiveness of the original Heywood review, and it is against this backdrop that we have asked immediate action is taken to ensure that an effective and independent investigation is commissioned without further delay.”
On behalf of the Sikh Federation (UK), KRW LAW has corresponded directly with the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to seek an independent investigation in the case.