Thousands of British Sikhs marched through Central London on Sunday 7 June to mark the 31st anniversary of Operation Blue Star in 1984- when the Indian army stormed through the Golden temple in Amritsar, to eliminate militants reportedly hiding within the temple premises. The march that started from Hyde Park to Waterloo Place was led by 5 Sikhs in ceremonial dress and included floats on the themes of 'truth', 'freedom' and 'justice'. Families from all across Britain travelled all the way to Hyde park in London, to mark their protest and demand justice through an independent public inquiry.
Two of Britain's political stalwarts- MP Tom Watson and former SNP leader Alex Salmond have promised to support the British Sikhs in pressurising PM David Cameron into launching an independent public inquiry into UK government's military assistance to India in the 1984 Operation Blue star.
The community, that has just lost their only Sikh MP (Paul Uppal of Wolverhampton) in the general election of 2015, is angered by the revelation in previously secret papers published by the UK government last year, which suggested that a SAS officer was recruited by Indira Gandhi with the help of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who allegedly helped Indian army to plan the Operation Blue Star in June 1984. Reports suggest the three-day military operation by Indian forces wiped off 3,000 people, including pilgrims caught in the cross-fire. However the official Indian government figures estimate that only 575 people had died on this fateful occasion.
Though it is not clear if Mr Salmond was present in the gathering, MP Tom Watson, who is contesting to be Deputy Leader of Labour Party addressed the campaigners, calling for transparency on the information of UK government's assistance in 1984 and the importance of the Sikhs right to self determination.
The British Sikhs are pleading the inquiry to look at pressure from India in it's attempts to deny British Sikhs the democratic right to protest to highlight the Genocide of Sikhs and expose widespread human rights violations in India.
British Prime Minister Cameron has earlier asserted that there was "absolutely no direct involvement" of the Margaret Thatcher government in the planning of the infamous attack by the Indian Army to flush out militants from the heart of the temple.
Sikh representatives have also planned to deliver a letter to 10 Downing Street requesting the PM to recognise the "killing of Sikhs in June 1984 in the months that followed and in November 1984 individually and collectively as genocide".
Last year UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said that under PM Thatcher a single military adviser did travel to Indiabetween Feb 8 and 17, 1984 to advise the Indian Intelligence Services and Special Group but "the nature of the UK's assistance was purely advisory, limited and provided to the Indian government at an early stage in their planning".
Bhai Amrik Singh, the Chair of the Sikh Federation (UK) reportedly said: “Too many questions now remain unanswered. The public at large have a right to know the truth of how the UK government assisted India to cover up the Genocide of the Sikhs in 1984.”
“David Cameron cannot ignore over 150 MPs elected on 7 May from across the political spectrum, including dozens of Conservative MPs who back an independent public enquiry.”
He went on to say, “There are serious doubts if any Indian politicians or the judiciary are capable of delivering anything approaching justice given the experience of the Sikh nation over the last 31 years. The UK government should join other permanent members of the UN Security Council to call for a UN-led investigation into the Sikh Genocide of 1984.”
