New Delhi, India (February 07, 2014): Naresh Gujral, Rajya Sabha MP and son of former Indian PM Inder Kumar Gujral has reportedly said that the documents declassified in the UK show the correspondence pertaining to the military offensive on the Harmandar Sahib (Amritsar) had been going on for at least six months before the actual attack took place. He said that “[t]he entire operation was premeditated”.
“We are seeking immediate declassification of official correspondence to know if the operation was actually a deep-rooted conspiracy to play the anti-Sikh card to give Congress an electoral advantage,” Gujral reportedly told The Tribune (TT) on February 06.
MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal with placards during a protest in New Delhi on Feb. 06
“The anti-Sikh sentiment was being fanned by the Centre from 1982 when India organised the Asian Games. Every Sikh entering Delhi was searched at the border. No exception was made even for top military officers. We want to know why Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was not arrested when he was at Mehta Chowk and later at Guru Nanak Niwas outside the Golden Temple in Amritsar,” he reportedly added.
“The fact remains that the then PM did not even take Parliament into confidence over seeking foreign advice over an internal matter,” Gujral said.
It is notable that in the wake of official disclosure by UK government about their ‘advisory’ role in June 1984 attack on Darbar Sahib, the Badal Dal MPs are demanding immediate de-classification of correspondence between the Indian and British Governments during that period.
Harsimrat Kaur Badal reportedly led the protests outside Indian Parliament on February 05. She criticised the Congress saying: “It’s treason on part of Congress to take help from UK for Operation Bluestar.”
The demand for making official documents public got shriller with Badal Dal MPs in both houses of Indian Parliament giving notices for adjournment motion to discuss the issue which they termed as one of “grave national importance.”
The notices given by Bathinda MP Harsimrat Badal in the Lok Sabha and Naresh Gujral in the Rajya Sabha could not be taken up as Houses were adjourned amid ruckus on several issues.