Operation Bluestar- UK link

Sensational disclosure about Operation Blue Star :Indira Gandhi sought help of UK

Sikh Council UK Calls for Full Disclosure on UK Government Involvement in 1984 Golden Temple Attack

By : Baljit Balli
First Published : Monday, Jan 13, 2014 12:00 AM
Updated : Monday, Jan 13, 2014 12:00 AM

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Chandigarh, January 14 : Following publication on the internet of documents marked â€˜TOP SECRET AND PERSONALâ€™ apparently released under the â€™30-year ruleâ€™, the Sikh Council UK today called for an urgent enquiry into actions and involvement of the UK Government at the time of the Indian Army attack on Sri Harmandir Sahib, Amritsar (also known as the Golden Temple) in 1984. The Top Secret documents released earlier this month by the UK Government show the Indian authorities â€œsought British advice over a plan to remove Sikh extremists from the Golden Temple in Amritsarâ€. The documents go on to explain the UK Foreign Minister with the agreement of the UK Prime Minister decided to respond favourably to the Indian request as a result of which an SAS officer (UK special forces) â€œhas visited India and drawn up a plan which has been approved by Mrs Gandhiâ€. Secretary General of the Sikh Council UK, Gurmel Singh said, â€œI am shocked and disappointed that there could have been any involvement by the UK Government and armed forces in planning the attack on the Golden Temple Complex including Sri Harmandir Sahib and Sri Akal Takhat Sahib.â€ â€œThousands 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.â€ He added, â€œI am calling for an urgent enquiry 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 assassination in October 1984. I want to know what else were the UK Government saying and doing over all that time?â€ According to reports of British Media,Britainâ€™s elite special air service (SAS) advised former prime minister Indira Gandhi on flushing out Sikh extremists from the Golden Temple in Amritsar three months before Operation Bluestar was launched in June 1984, says a top secret note released by the National Archives in London. The is the first time that the involvement of the SAS has been revealed in the bloody episode that led to Gandhiâ€™s assassination and riots on the streets of New Delhi and elsewhere. Both India and Britain had placed a tight lid on this involvement. The document written by BJP Fall.Pricipal private secretary to the British Foreign Secretary in the Foreign and Commonwealth office was part of official documents declassified and released earlier this month. The documents mainly related to the tenure of Margaret Thatcher as the prime minister, who had agreed to send an SAS officer to India. The document, with the subject line â€˜Sikh Communityâ€™, is dated 23 February 1984. The document is addressed to Hugh Taylor, private secretary to the home secretary. Only four copies were made of the document classified as â€˜Top Secret and Personalâ€™. The note says: â€œThe Indian authorities recently sought British advice over a plan to remove Sikh extremists from the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The foreign secretary decided to respond favourably and, with the PMâ€™s agreement, an SAS 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.â€ It goes on: â€œAn operation at the Golden Temple could exacerbate communal violence in Punjab. It might also increase tension in the Indian community here, particularly if knowledge of the SAS involvement were to become public. We have impressed upon the Indians the need for security; and knowledge of the SAS officerâ€™s visit and of his plan has been tightly held in both in India and in London.â€