Secret paperwork launched in 2014 revealed that the Margaret Thatcher-led authorities on the time despatched a SAS officer to assist information the Indian authorities with the assault, which killed tons of of civilians.
Since then, the Sikh group has been demanding full transparency on the affair, particularly as many information stay labeled.
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Tan Dhesi is hopeful {that a} public inquiry will happen
Mr Dhesi, who can be the Labour chair of the influential Home of Commons Defence Committee, mentioned: “My message to the federal government is that it’s about time that the Sikh group acquired their fact and transparency.
“That can only come about through an inquiry to establish the extent of the Thatcher-led government’s involvement.”
Operation Blue Star in June 1984 noticed Indian forces storm the Golden Temple, the holiest Sikh shrine in Amritsar, the place armed separatists who sought the creation of an unbiased Sikh homeland had taken refuge.
Hundreds gathered in central London on Sunday to implore Labour’s management to honour their dedication to carry an unbiased public inquiry into potential British involvement within the Golden Temple bloodbath.
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The Golden Temple is positioned within the city of Amritsar within the northern state of India’s Punjab. File pic: f9photos/iStock
Whereas in opposition, Labour made a number of guarantees to carry an unbiased inquiry, together with:
Of their 2017 and 2019 manifestos.A letter addressed to the Sikh group from Sir Keir Starmer because the Chief of the Opposition in 2022, which acknowledged: “A future Labour government will open an independent inquiry into Britain’s military role in the Indian army’s 1984 raid on the Golden Temple in Amritsar.”A social media submit from the now Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, a month earlier than final yr’s basic election, which mentioned: “Labour stands with the Sikh community in calling for an inquiry into the historic role Britain played.”
Nearly 11 months into Labour’s time in energy, there has not been any official authorities replace on this matter.
Earlier this yr, greater than 400 Sikh teams wrote to the prime minister, urging Sir Keir to launch an inquiry as he promised.
Talking at Sunday’s rally in central London, Dabinderjit Singh OBE, the lead govt for political engagement on the Sikh Federation (UK), mentioned: “It is totally unacceptable that the Labour leadership remains silent on its promise.
“A judge-led public inquiry should happen so we now have the total fact. If Labour breaks its promise, it will likely be an act of betrayal.
“Labour will lose much of the Sikh vote if they let us down.”
The Conservative-led authorities below Prime Minister David Cameron carried out an inner overview in 2014, which concluded that the UK’s position was “purely advisory” and “limited”, involving a single army adviser offering early-stage planning recommendation to Indian authorities.
Nevertheless, this investigation was criticised as a cover-up as a result of its restricted scope and fast timeframe.
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Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in revenge of the operation. Pic: AP
The Indian authorities’s official place is that Operation Blue Star was a army operation carried out towards armed militants, not the Sikh group.
