** Tom Watson Uk Member Of Parliament Reveals Biggest Secret: Britain Involved In 1984 Army Attack On Darbar Sahib

[lsingh]

The news that the SAS was involved in Bluestar is not new it was covered by Mary Ann Weaver in the Sunday Times in 1984 and is detailed on many Sikh websites. But it was thought at the time it was general training the UK gave to a friendly country.

What the letters do confirm is that the massacre was planned a year in advance at least by India, premeditated massacre. Something the Sikhs have long since said but India refused to acknowledge.

The UK involvement is much higher than previously thought as it seems it was being discussed at the most senior of levels. I think the main purposes to Britain got involved were two fold,

1. India being an of the Soviet Union could be weakened if they the Sikhs became disaffected.

2. Trade, seeing how corrupt the Indians were it was a quick way of making money by seeming to be friendly and getting many contracts signed

However the massacres was so large and resulted in the 1984 Genocide that the British got their involvement hidden.

It would be interesting to see what the Govt reply is, Sikh organisations with political contacts should take this up.

http://www.sikhlionz.com/newsreporteyewitnessob.htm

In early June 1984 the government forces attacked the golden temple in Amritsar on the pretext of flushing out terrorists. The attack was planned well in advance and was not in decision taken late in the day because there was no other alternative. In October 1983, the Indian Army selected 600 men from different units and sent the to rehearse the assault on a replica of the Golden temple at a secret training camp in the Chakrata Hills about 150 miles north of Delhi: 2 officers of the RAW, the Indian secret service, were sent to London to seek expertise from the SAS (see the report by Mary Anne Weaver in the Sunday Times 1984)

[Tony]

ATTN: SIKHCHANNEL 840 presenting a program on this NOW started 7pm today.

[Artmental]

Just to get up to speed again can someone tell me when sant ji moved to darbar sahib complex?

[DiscoverSikhism]

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh Ji

In July 1982, Longowal invited Baba Jarnail Singh Ji to take up residence at the Sri Harmandir Sahib compound.

In December 1983, Baba Ji moved to Akal Takht, this was around the time India contacted the British government (and most likely others...?)

The attack in June 1984 used 250,000 Indian army troops, action took place against many, many villages and Sikh gurdwaras in Punjab.

The false allegation that this was purely an action against Sikh freedom fighters in Amritsar was a lie sold to the world.

Many, many women were raped and children killed and/ or made fatherless.

Both Margaret Thatcher and Indira Gandhi are directly responsible for the resulting 100,000 Sikh deaths.

The water in the holiest of Sikh places ran red with blood (which the Indian army made, the few, surviving prisoners drink).

[proactive]

If this is true than it would amount to the British government being culpable in the genocide of 1984. This would also amount to a betrayal of the Sikh citizens by the British government and if it could be open to a lawsuit especially if there were British Sikhs who were murdered in the attack. I hope the Sikh organisations such as Network of Sikh orgs, Sikh Federation and Sikh Council will follow this up and at the very least get an apology from the government and all papers related to the issue released. The government should then be sued.

This betrayal by the British government ranks along with the betrayal of Maharaja Dalip Singh when they took over the Sikh kingdom when they were duty bound to protect it. Add to this the betrayal in 1947 and you realise that the trust that Sikhs have in the British is misplaced.

[WaljinderSingh]

Sikhs demand inquiry into claims of British role in 1984 Amritsar attack

Documents appear to show SAS was involved in planning Indian military operation at Golden Temple in which hundreds died

_________________________________________

Peter Walker

theguardian.com, Monday 13 January 2014 18.58 GMT

_________________________________________

Sikhs pray at the memorial at the Golden Temple in Amritsar for those killed there in 1984. Photograph: Demotix/Corbis

Sikh groups have called for a government inquiry into alleged British collusion in the bloody 1984 Indian military attack on the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the faith's holiest shrine, after newly released documents appeared to show the SAS was involved in planning the attack.

The head of the Sikh Council UK, Gurmel Singh said he was "shocked and disappointed" at the idea the government of Margaret Thatcher may have been involved. The Labour MP Tom Watson, whose West Bromwich constituency, contains many Sikhs, has demanded the Foreign Office release further papers about any British role.

Details come in two letters reportedly among a large cache of government documents released in the new year under the 30-year rule and published on the blog Stop Deportations.

One, dated 23 February 1984, is from Brian Fall, private secretary to the then-foreign secretary, Geoffrey Howe, to Hugh Taylor, his counterpart under the home secretary of the time, Leon Brittan. It warns about "the possibility of repercussions among the Sikh community in this country" over a possible military operation to remove from the Golden Temple Sikh militants, who had seized it several years earlier.

India had sought British advice over a plan to remove the militants from the temple complex, Fall writes, adding: "The foreign secretary decided to respond favourably to the Indian request and, with the prime minister's agreement, an SAD officer has visited India and drawn up a plan which has been approved by Mrs Gandhi. The foreign secretary believes that the Indian government may put the plan into operation shortly."

The reference to SAD is understood to be a typographical error for SAS. The elite unit is referred to later in the letter, where Fall writes that the military raid could increase tensions among Britain's Indian community, "particularly if the knowledge of the SAS involvement were to become public".

He adds: "We have impressed upon the Indians the need for security; and knowledge of the SAS officer's visit and of his plan has been tightly held both in India and in London. The foreign secretary would be grateful if the contents of this letter could be strictly limited to those who need to consider the possible domestic implications."

The issue is an explosive one for Sikhs worldwide. In June 1984, the military operation took place over six days, with India's government saying around 400 people had been killed. However, Sikh groups put the death toll in the thousands, including many Sikh pilgrims. In October that year, two Sikh bodyguards to Indira Gandhi, the Indian prime minister, assassinated her, sparking anti-Sikh riots that killed more than 3,000 people.

In a statement released by the Sikh Council UK, Singh said: "Thousands of innocent men, women and children were killed in the attack, which took place on one of the holiest days in the Sikh calendar. As well as loss of life, buildings and property was destroyed and the historical Sikh reference library was ransacked. This is and remains one of the darkest episodes in Sikh history.

"I am calling for an urgent inquiry into UK government involvement in the events of 1984 including a full disclosure of all documentation. The letters date from February 1984 yet the attack took place in June 1984 and then there was the subsequent genocide of Sikhs following Indira Gandhi['s] assassination in October 1984. I want to know, what else were the UK government saying and doing over all that time?"

The other letter released is from Robin Butler, Thatcher's private secretary. On 6 February 1984 he wrote to Fall saying Thatcher was "content" for Howe to allow India to receive help, and that Brittan expected to be warned if India looked likely to go ahead with a raid.

According to the Stop Deportations blog, three other letters in the sequence between Butler and Fall were not released; nor was any other file from after March that year.

Watson told the BBC Asian Network the letters raised "huge questions about the role of the British government at the time". He said: "On behalf of my constituents I was also deeply upset and offended that we were involved in what turned out to be a raid that caused huge loss of life and political tensions ever since."

He said the other letters should be released: "I think British Sikhs and all people concerned about human rights will want to know exactly the extent of Britain's collusion with this period and this episode, and will expect some answers from the foreign secretary."

A foreign office spokesman said officials were still verifying the authenticity of the letters and would respond once this had been done.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/13/sikh-inquiry-british-1984-amritsar-india-golden-temple

[proactive]

Here is a petition to force the British government to release all the documents.

https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/british-government-to-launch-an-urgent-inquiry-into-british-involvement-into-the-1984-attack-on-amritsar#

[WaljinderSingh]

1914-1918: Sikhs fought for the British in WW1*.

1919 : Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. Thousands massacred.

1939-1945: Sikhs fought again for the British in WW2**.

1947: Partition of British India. Millions killed.

1984: Assisted (??) 1984 attack on Harminder Sahib. Thousands massacred.

* ** In both the World Wars 83,005 turban-wearing Sikh soldiers were killed and 109,045 were wounded while fighting across 3 continents

-The Sikh Regiment in the Second World War by Colonel F T Birdwood

[Cisco_Singh]

It will be intesesting to see how far this goes and what the actual "official" UK Goverenment reponse will be, I'm guessing one of of the following scenarios:

1. They will attempt to say the documents are not authentic , which will be difficult as they have been relased officially under the 30 year rule.

2. They will say they will not comment on foreign affairs or security issues.

3. They will ignore all questions and attempt a cover up and just wait until the noise dies down.

[WaljinderSingh]

AS 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF 1984 SIKH GENOCIDE APPROACHES BRITISH SIKHS DEMAND ANSWERS FROM UK GOVERNMENT

13 January 2014

The Sikh Federation (UK) is demanding answers from the UK Government on its direct involvement in the Indian army assault on the Darbar Sahib Complex (often referred to as the Golden Temple Complex) in Amritsar in June 1984.

This follows disclosure of Top Secret documents released under the ’30-year rule’ that show the Indian authorities sought British advice on the attack on the Golden Temple Complex.

The documents in the public domain show the UK Foreign Office with the support of the Prime Minister’s Office (Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister at the time) responded to the Indian request by sending an SAS officer.

In correspondence between the Foreign Office and Home Office in February 1984 it was pointed out the SAS officer had visited India and ‘drawn up a plan’ which had been approved by Indira Gandhi.
Bhai Amrik Singh, Chair of the Sikh Federation (UK) said:

‘We are demanding answers to the following key questions from the UK Government.

1) What was the specific advice provided by the Foreign Office and the SAS officer that was ‘approved’ by Indira Gandhi?

2) Did the British Government advice on:

a. the timing of the attack to coincide with one of the most important days in the Sikh calendar when tens of thousands of innocent pilgrims were expected to be at the Darbar Sahib Complex and would be slaughtered?

b. the level of force to be used at the Sikhs’ holiest shrine and the method of attack, using tanks and artillery?

c. the expulsion of the media throughout the Punjab State so human rights atrocities could be perpetrated on the Sikh people across the Sikh homeland?

d. the simultaneous attack on around 125 Sikh Gurdwaras (places of worship) throughout the Punjab State?

‘British Sikhs, the general public and our elected representatives have a right to know the truth. Why would the UK Government at that time advise on the attack on the sacred Darbar Sahib Complex and risk alienating the law-abiding British Sikh community.’

The Sikh Federation (UK) has contacted over 100 MPs, including the All Party Parliamentary Group for UK Sikhs and urged them to table Parliamentary Questions and get to the bottom of the UK government involvement. We have also been in contact with the Special adviser of the Deputy Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Nick Clegg, who is responsible of the Foreign Office.

Gurjeet Singh
National Press Secretary
Sikh Federation (UK)

Sikh Federation UK - SFUK

3. They will ignore all questions and attempt a cover up and just wait until the noise dies down.

This time it will not be so easy to get away.