Labour to probe UK’S role in Op Bluestar, apologise for Jallianwala

LONDON: Labour party promised to tender a ‘formal apology’ on behalf of the British government for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre, and hold a ‘public review’ into the UK’S role in the 1984 Operation Bluestar, if elected to power in the December 12 elections.

In its manifesto released on Thursday, party leader Jeremy Corbyn set out ambitious plans to shake up the status quo that he s ai d benefits t he r i ch and wealthy, and bring about real change for the common people.

The manifesto promises that besides the apology for Jallianwala Bagh, the government would hold a ‘public review’ into “Britain’s role in the Amritsar massacre”, referring to Operation Bluestar in Amritsar. In the 2017 manifesto, it had promised an ‘independent inquiry’ into the role. The issue blew up in 2014 when declassified files suggested that the Margaret Thatcher government provided advice to the Indira Gandhi government before the operation against Sikh separatists. A section of the Sikh community in the UK has since been demanding an independent inquiry into Britain’s role.

The 107-page manifesto alleged that the Conservative party had failed to play a constructive role in resolving what it called “the world’s most pressing humanitarian crises, including Kashmir”. However, the manifesto did not elaborate on Kashmir.

An emergency resolution passed at Labour’s annual conference in September had called for international intervention in Kashmir, which riled New Delhi and the 1.5 million-strong Indian community in the UK.