LONDON: Around 25,000 Sikhs commemorated the 40th anniversary of the June 1984 Sikh genocide by marching through London and holding a freedom rally in Trafalgar Square. The first march and demonstration took place in London 40 years ago, on June 10, 1984.
Those gathered in Trafalgar Square were told that UK government documents released after more than 30 years showed how the London-based Indian high commissioner urged the then home secretary, Douglas Hurd, on June 7, 1984, to arrest and intern some 200 presidents of all the Gurdwaras in the United Kingdom to sabotage the first protest.
The Special Branch told the Minister of the Interior that this was not possible. India's Foreign Secretary then suggested to the British High Commission in Delhi the next day, June 8, 1984, that Sikh protesters in London might be shot dead. The British High Commissioner in Delhi set this out in a telex to the Foreign Secretary, Geoffrey Howe.
The 40th anniversary event in London comes less than three weeks before the general election and Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Yvette Cooper, Shadow Home Secretary, have said that a Labor government that expected to be elected on July 4 will launch later this year an independent judge-led public inquiry into the British government's involvement in the June 1984 massacre and the anti-Sikh measures taken by Margaret Thatcher against British Sikhs request from Indian authorities in the 1980s, when she was in office (1979-1990).
The other important backdrop for the 40th anniversary event has been the Indian government's recent transnational crackdown on Sikh activists in the diaspora. The event marked the first anniversary of the mysterious death of Avtar Singh Khanda, 35, in the United Kingdom. The family's lawyer is pushing for an investigation and public inquiry into his death.
The mysterious death of Avtar Singh Khanda came three days before the high-profile murder of Canadian Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside the Gurdwara where he was president in Surrey BC.
A few weeks later, in early July, India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) told Indian television that they had killed three Sikhs in six weeks, including Hardeep Singh Nijjar and Avtar Singh Khanda, and the NIA elaborated a target list of 20 other Sikhs, but authorities failed to take appropriate action. At the same time, Indian agents were attempting to kill Sikhs for Justice leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York.
Dabinderjit Singh, senior advisor to the Sikh Federation (UK), told the assembled media: “40 years after the Sikh genocide, it is clear that Sikhs will never get justice in India. “The reestablishment of a Sikh homeland illegally annexed by Britain in 1849 is the only solution.”
“The election of Bhai Amritpal Singh and Sarabjit Singh Khalsa in Punjab, where the majority of Sikhs live, exactly 40 years after the June 1984 massacre, has shown that the freedom movement in the Sikh homeland is very much alive today. and it can no longer be denied.”
“Sikhs are a sovereign people and are confident of winning the hearts and minds of the public and governments around the world to understand and support the legitimate struggle of Sikhs for freedom and independence.”
“Despite Indian government propaganda and pressure on governments to limit the activities of Sikh activists, transnational repression against Sikhs in the diaspora is blowing up in their faces.”
“We are convinced that there has been a cover-up by the UK government led by Rishi Sunak, which was desperate for a trade deal with India.”
“Sunak has done everything possible to appease India and has shown his prejudices by falsely demonizing British Sikhs, as he could not afford the same kind of confrontation with India as with Canada over the activities of the Indian government on British soil. United, including the death of Avtar Singh. Khanda.”
“An incoming Labor government has the opportunity to support British Sikhs or continue selling out to us. “We believe there are enough good, principled people within the Labor leadership who will have the strength and courage to support us.”
