Posted on 01/14/2014 3:47:01 PM PST by mojito
Britain's involvement in the massacre of hundreds of Sikh separatists in an Indian temple in 1984 will be urgently investigated, David Cameron has ordered.
Previously secret documents released by the Government have shown that a SAS officer was drafted in to help the Indian authorities with plans to remove dissident Sikhs from the Golden Temple at Amritsar, Sikhism's holiest shrine.
The plan was ordered with the full knowledge of then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher the documents say. Hundreds of Sikhs were killed in the attack.
Yesterday Sikh leaders said the revelations amounted to the British Government ‘backstabbing” and have called for all documentation surrounding the attack to be released.
In an operation called “Blue Star” Indian troops attacked the temple in June 1984 with an official death toll of 492 militants, pilgrims and soldiers. The country was plunged into some of the worst communal violence in its history following the attack. Sikh activists claim thousands died in the operation.
The assault triggered the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who ordered the attack, when two Sikh bodyguards killed her in revenge several months later.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
“India Golden Temple: Ex-general Brar dismisses UK ‘link’”
I must say that I fail to see what will be gained by releasing this report now. After the British left India, things were in a state of chaos for many years. Whether or not it was the right thing to do, the attack on the rebel Sikhs was intended to help hold the country from falling into little pieces.
I must say, I think that Cameron may be the single worst PM the UK has had for many years, and that includes a couple of pretty bad ones. He will be remembered for imposing gay marriage on the country, I expect.
“I must say that I fail to see what will be gained by releasing this report now. “
Probably a leftist attempt to damage Margaret Thatcher’s legacy.
I don’t understand the politics here. However, Churchill’s statement on “friendship” comes to mind. “Nations don’t have friends. Nations have common interests.”
I agree with the commenters... big deal. This is like saying LBJ had full knowledge of the Cambodian massacres and that the US had intelligence officers on the ground advising. There is only so much an outsider can do. It would be different if British soldiers were actively involved in the staging and logistics.
This is some BS Thatcher-bashing. Having a single foreign advisor doesn’t mean much, when after all the whole operation involved a bunch of Indian troops storming the place from all directions. Sikhism is about 500 years old, and is a kooky fringe sect of Islam, with some oddball additions from the whole cloth of the ancient cults of India. The takeover of the Sikh temple by “dissident Sikhs” was merely another salvo by jihadists against world civilization.
Israel, Iran, India, Pakistan (my op-ed)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2436271/posts?page=164
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-25723875
Watson is, surprise, a Labour MP with a long history of anti-military antics:
The papers relating to most government decisions back then were released recently under a 30-year ‘de-classification’ rule in the UK, so you can expect out-of-work journos and publicity-hungry politicians to go looking for crumbs.
Thanks sukhoi-30mki!
Thanks mojito!
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