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Cameron orders inquiry into claims of British role in 1984 Amritsar attack Cameron orders inquiry into claims of British role in 1984 Amritsar attack
(about 1 hour later)
David Cameron has ordered an urgent investigation into alleged British collusion in the bloody 1984 Indian military attack on the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the faith's holiest shrine. David Cameron has asked the cabinet secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, to conduct an urgent investigation into a decision by the government of Margaret Thatcher to send an SAS officer to Delhi in 1984 to advise the Indian government on the expulsion of militants from the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
The move came after government documents released under the 30-year rule appeared to show the SAS was involved in planning the six-day operation, prompting calls from Sikh groups for an inquiry into the British role in the assault which they described as "one of the darkest episodes in Sikh history". Amid calls from Sikh groups for an inquiry into the alleged British involvement in planning the operation, the prime minister's spokesman said that the investigation would examine two issues: the British action in 1984 and the decision to release such a sensitive government papers.
India's government said around 400 people were killed when the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi, sent troops into the temple in June 1984, but Sikh groups put the death toll in the thousands, including many pilgrims. Heywood will want to examine why the papers were not marked sensitive and held back when papers from 1984 were released under the annual 30-year-rule.
A British government spokesman said: "These events led to a tragic loss of life and we understand the very legitimate concerns that these papers will raise. The prime minister has asked the cabinet secretary to look into this case urgently and establish the facts. The PM and the foreign secretary were unaware of these papers prior to publication. The prime minister intervened after the recent explosive release of papers from 1984 which showed that the then foreign secretary, Sir Geoffrey Howe, responded "favourably" to a request from Delhi for help in drawing up plans to launch a military operation to remove militants from the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the holiest site in the Sikh faith.
"Any requests today for advice from foreign governments are always evaluated carefully with full ministerial oversight and appropriate legal advice." The Indian government said around 400 people were killed when the Indian prime minister, Indira Gandhi, sent troops into the temple in June 1984 in an operation that lasted six days.
One of two letters published on the blog Stop Deportations, 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. Sikh groups, which have called for an inquiry into the British role in "one of the darkest episodes in Sikh history", put the death toll in the thousands, including many pilgrims.
Fall writes that India had sought British advice over a plan to remove the militants from the complex. "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," he writes. "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, which is referred to later in the letter. Gandhi, the daughter of India's first post-independence prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was assassinated by two Sikh bodyguards in October 1984. This sparked anti-Sikh riots which killed more than 3,000 people.
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 also refers to a visit by an SAS officer to India, knowledge of which he says 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." Cameron's spokesman said that Heywood would conduct his enquiry as quickly as possible. "The cabinet secretary has been asked by the prime minister to look into what may have happened in 1984 with regard to papers that have been recently released. The prime minister has asked the cabinet secretary to lead an investigation on that subject. The important thing is to establish all the facts as quickly as possible. That work is underway."
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. The spokesman added: "The reasons behind it [the investigation] is that issues have been raised around the decisions both to release papers and also to consider the facts contained within the papers. So there are two aspects to it."
Downing Street acted after Stop Deportations published a letter, dated 23 February 1984, from Howe's private secretary, Brian Fall, to Hugh Taylor, his counterpart under the home secretary of the time, Leon Brittan. It warned 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.
Fall wrote that India had sought British advice over a plan to remove the militants from the complex. "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," he wrote. "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, which is referred to later in the letter.
Fall wrote that Britain's involvement in advising the Indian authorities should be kept secret to avoid inflaming tensions within the Indian community in Britain. He wrote: "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 in India and in London. The foreign secretary would be grateful if the contents of this letter could be very strictly limited to those who need to consider the possible domestic implications."
The other letter released is from Robin Butler, Thatcher's private secretary, who later became the cabinet 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. Butler wrote on 6 February 1984: "The prime minister is content that the foreign secretary should proceed as he proposes."
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.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.
The Labour MP Tom Watson, whose West Bromwich constituency is home to many Sikhs, has demanded that the Foreign Office release further papers about any British role. The decision is likely to inflict severe damage on the government's relations with the Sikh community. Cameron reached out to Sikhs last year when he visited the Golden Temple last year and the nearby Jallianwala Bagh where he wrote of the "deeply shameful" Amritsar massacre of 1919 when at least 379 innocent Indians died after British troops opened fire.
In October 1984, two Sikh bodyguards assassinated Gandhi, sparking anti-Sikh riots that killed more than 3,000 people. 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 is home to many Sikhs, has demanded that the Foreign Office release further papers about any British role.
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