British Sikh MPs seek inquiry into UK's role in Op Bluestar

Britain’s two new Sikh MPs on Saturday sought an independent inquiry into the role of the UK government in Operation Bluestar, an Indian Army action in 1984 to flush out militants from the Golden Temple.

Britain’s first turban-wearing MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi and Preet Kaur Gill said the UK government would be accused of a cover up if the alleged revelations in the new documents, released by the UK’s National Archives, are not taken note of.

According to the Sikh Federation UK, the release of FCO files from 1985 reveals that the then Indian Army chief General Arun Shridhar Vaidya, who planned Operation Blue Star in June 1984, received a confidential briefing from the British Army earlier in 1984.

Dhesi, who is in Chandigarh on a private visit to India, said, “As far as the 1984 Operation Bluestar is concerned, you know that all felt pain. But we never knew that there was any role of the UK government in it. We always thought it was an action taken by the Indian government.”

Addressing the media, he claimed that some journalists in the UK while analysing secret documents found “involvement of the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher”.

“Whether the role was in advisory capacity or something more, but when we learnt about it, we were sad because we never thought our government would have any role in it,” the British MP said.