WSO Calls On India To Hold Inquiry Into 1984 Attack on Golden Temple

OTTAWA – In the wake of the BritishGovernment’s investigation intoBritain’s role in advising India on planningthe attack on Sri Darbar Sahib(Golden Temple) at Amritsar in 1984,the World Sikh Organization of Canadacalls on the Government of India toconduct a similar inquiry into the attackand reiterates its call for the BritishGovernment to conduct a full parliamentaryinquiry.UK Foreign Secretary William Haguerevealed on Tuesday that Britain wasconsulted in the planning of the attackon Sri Darbar Sahib but its advice hadlimited impact and the British advice onhow to avoid loss of life was ignored.According to the report, the British militaryadviser sent to India had emphasizedthe need to minimize loss of lifeand use force as a last resort. In a documentreleased by the UK governmenton Tuesday, the British adviser hadnoted that “the Indians had not givenmuch thought to how they should rootout the extremists, beyond applying the‘sledgehammer to crack a nut’ principle.”The revelations in the British report arein stark contradiction to the Indian government’sclaim that the 1984 assaultwas executed as an emergency responseand not a pre-planned operation. TheSikh community has long asserted thatthe Indian government deliberatelychose to storm the Sri Darbar Sahibcomplex on the martyrdom anniversaryof Guru Arjan Dev, when officialsknew that thousands of innocent pilgrimswould be in attendance.Independent reports have confirmedthat thousands of civilians were killed inthe bloody onslaught at the Sri DarbarSahib complex and 38 other historicalSikh Gurdwaras in Punjab and neighboringstates.WSO Senior Vice President KulmitSingh Sangha said, “The UK investigationhas revealed the extent of the planningbehind the 1984 attack on SriDarbar Sahib but there are still toomany unanswered questions. While webelieve that the UK Governmentshould still conduct a full parliamentaryinquiry, it has already done far morethan the Indian government which hasrefused to be truthful about its motivations,its choice of tactics and the totalnumber of casualties. In the interest ofjustice, it is incumbent on theGovernment of India that it immediatelyconduct a transparent and thoroughinquiry into the attack on Sri DarbarSahib.”An independent inquiry into the attackon Sri Darbar Sahib has never beenundertaken by the Indian government,however information about the assaultcontinues to slowly surface threedecades later.Recent startling revelations by retiredIndian army officer Brig. Onkar S.Goraya in his book “Operation BlueStar and After- an Eyewitness Account”include the admissions that Indian armyofficers were involved in “cases of coldblooded killings of detainees, some withhands tied at the back” and that membersof some army units were involvedin looting and robbery.WSO President Dr. Amritpal SinghShergill said, “It is clear that justice continuesto elude the Sikh community 30years after the attack on Sri DarbarSahib. None of the Indian officersguilty of atrocities and murders haveever been brought to justice. The UKdocuments make it clear that three