Thatcher govt tried to ban Sikh protests after Bluestar

LONDON: The British government led by then prime minister Margaret Thatcher made several attempts to ban protests by Sikhs in the country following Operation Bluestar in 1984, according to recently declassified documents. The documents were released after a UK judge had ruled last month that declassifying the Downing Street papers would not damage ties with India.

The British government led by then prime minister Margaret Thatcher made several attempts to ban protests by Sikhs in the country following Operation Bluestar in 1984, according to recently declassified documents.

The documents were released after a UK judge had ruled last month that declassifying the Downing Street papers would not damage diplomatic ties with India. While the papers do not shed any further light on alleged British involvement in the army operation at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, they reflect a preoccupation with not upsetting the then Rajiv Gandhi-led government in order to secure lucrative trade deals.

Thatcher’s foreign secretary, Sir Geoffrey Howe, wanted Scotland Yard to ban protests planned by British Sikh groups, including so-called Republic of Khalistan, because “a Sikh march in present circumstance would carry very serious risks, both for Indo-British relations and for law and order in this country”.

“It will also further intensify the Indian government’s resentment against the UK and unwillingness of HMG (Her Majesty’s government), as they see it, to do anything to curb the activities of Sikh extremists in this country. Contracts which would be potentially at risk from a trade boycott amount to 5 billion pounds,” reads a note to the home office by Leonard Appleyard, Geoffrey Howe’s private secretary.

In 1984, the UK was eager to sell its Westland helicopters to India. At one point, Howe even contemplates a change to the UK’s Public Order Act, 1936, which prevents a ban on protests unless they pose a threat to public order.

“There are disturbing details in the new documents about how some British politicians tried to disregard the civil liberties of UK Sikhs in order to secure trade with India. But overall, it is now clear that the cabinet office has managed to avoid releasing any more material about Operation Bluestar,” said Phil Miller, the investigative journalist who had sought the declassification of the documents through a freedom of information (FOI) request.