Thatcher sent SAS to advise Indira Gandhi on Indian army plans “for the removal of dissident Sikhs from the Golden Temple” months before disastrous raid on Amritsar, top secret UK file reveals.
The letter which dated 23rd February 1984, titled “Sikh Community” made it quite clear that there would be serious outbursts and they were aware that the Sikh community would not just find it offensive, but also retaliate. This top secret document had only four copies, each sent to offices to keep this as confidential. Surprisingly, after the raid, a British journalist, Anne Mary Weaver had also written an article hinting the involvement of SAS with the 1984 Raids in Amritsar.
There are quite a lot of Sikh population living in Britain and many other immigrants. While many find it hard to believe that Britain would not just allow but also assist in attacking a religious monument, there are others who are trying to prove this by linking it to Thatcher’s involvement in negotiating British arms to India. So does this mean the British chose to assist the Indians with planning this genocide in order to not jeopardize their economic interest, or sought this opportunity to sell more of their arms to India.
A piece from Marry Anne’s article in 1984:
“Last weeks assault on the Golden Temple took place after months of preparations of the Indian army, which included advice from British experts in counter-insurgency. Sources in Delhi say that two officers of the Indian secret service, Gary Saxena and R.N. Kao, of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) made several trips to London to seek expertise. The Indian Government then selected 600 men from different units and sent them to rehearse the assault on a life size replica of the Golden Temple, built at a secret training camp in the Chakata Hills, about 150 miles north of Delhi. The assault troops were alerted to invade the temple no fewer than five times during the past five months, but each time Mrs Gandhi vetoed the invasion. A case of nerves’, according to a Senior aide”.
-Sunday Times, London, June 10th, 1984
Why did they not interfere when dozens of human rights violations were taking place in India?
Why did Britain feel the need in helping India plan this genocide out when they knew the consequences?
And finally, should Britain be excused if they were proved of abetting in this crime?
One thing is for sure, the Indian politicians are trying to overlook this and British might try to justify or deny this, but what happened in 1984 was thousand times worse than 9/11 or any other genocide. This diaspora and religious war was not interfered by any world power or the United Nations.