Over Seas
UK: National Union of Journalists calls on David Cameron to establish full public inquiry into 1984 Amritsar Massacre
April 16, 2014 | By Sikh Siyasat Bureau
London, United Kingdom (April 16, 2014): The National Union of Journalist (NUJ) has called on the British Prime Minister to establish a full public enquiry into all the documents and events relating to India, covering the whole of 1984.
At the union’s delegate meeting in Eastbourne delegates unanimously accepted a motion proposed by Parvinder Singh, NUJ book branch and author of 1984 Sikhs’ Kristallnacht, and seconded by Laura James of the London magazine branch.
The motion noted the Cabinet Secretary’s internal inquiry, tabled in the House of Commons on 4 February 2014, stating that Margaret Thatcher’s government agreed that the UK would provide military assistance in the form of SAS advice in planning the assault by Indian forces on the Sikhs’ Golden Temple in Amritsar, which resulted in the death of thousands of people.
A Sikh Federation (UK) spokesman said:
‘We welcome the backing of the NUJ for an independent public inquiry. The NUJ has called for a full public inquiry into events into the whole of 1984. Parvinder Singh should be congratulated on this important initiative.’
Parvinder Singh, while speaking about this catastrophe at NUJ conference, added the Cabinet Secretary’s recent internal inquiry had been ‘too narrow in scope and timeframe – many questions remain unanswered, despite PM Cameron’s statement that his government would be transparent on the issue.’
In the subsequent Sikh Genocide in November 1984, the Conservative government ‘chose to maintain close relations with India in order not to jeopardise billions of pounds of commercial contracts, despite evidence that leading members of India’s ruling Congress Party were instrumental in the massacres,’ added Singh, whose family in Delhi narrowly survived the 1984 genocide.
The delegates commended the work of journalist Phil Miller, who discovered the initial documents at the National Archives in Kew. Information about India’s relations with Britain have been kept secret and they have not been revealed to parliament or the public for 30 years. Not all of the information and documents have been released.
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Related Topics: Sikh Federation UK, Sikhs in United Kingdom, UK and June 1984 attack on Sikhs
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