LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron has ordered an urgent investigation into alleged British collusion in the bloody 1984 Indian military attack on the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Sikhism’s holiest shrine.

The move came after government documents released under the 30-year rule appeared to show the SAS - British special forces - were involved in planning the six-day operation, prompting calls from Sikh groups for an inquiry into the British role in the assault which they described as “one of the darkest episodes in Sikh history”.

The Indian government said around 400 people were killed when the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi, sent troops into the temple in June 1984, but Sikh groups put the death toll in the thousands, including many pilgrims.

A British government spokesman said: “These events led to a tragic loss of life and we understand the very legitimate concerns that these papers will raise. The prime minister has asked the cabinet secretary to look into this case urgently and establish the facts. The PM and the foreign secretary were unaware of these papers prior to publication.

“Any requests today for advice from foreign governments are always evaluated carefully with full ministerial oversight and appropriate legal advice.”

One of two letters published on the blog Stop Deportations, dated Feb 23, 1984, is from Brian Fall, private secretary to the then foreign secretary, Geoffrey Howe, to Hugh Taylor, his counterpart under the home secretary (British interior minister) of the time, Leon Brittan. It warns about “the possibility of repercussions among the Sikh community in this country (Britain)” over a possible military operation to remove from the Golden Temple Sikh militants, who had seized it several years earlier.

Fall writes that India had sought British advice over a plan to remove the militants from the complex. “The foreign secretary decided to respond favourably to the Indian request and, with the prime minister’s agreement, an SAD officer has visited India and drawn up a plan which has been approved by Mrs Gandhi,” he writes. “The foreign secretary believes that the Indian government may put the plan into operation shortly.” The reference to SAD is understood to be a typographical error for SAS, which is referred to later in the letter.

Brian Fall writes that the military raid could increase tensions among Britain’s Indian community, “particularly if the knowledge of the SAS involvement were to become public”. He also refers to a visit by an SAS officer to India, knowledge of which he says has been “tightly held both in India and in London. The foreign secretary would be grateful if the contents of this letter could be strictly limited to those who need to consider the possible domestic implications”.

The other letter released is from Robin Butler, Margaret Thatcher’s private secretary. On Feb 6, 1984, he wrote to Fall saying Thatcher was content for Howe to allow India to receive help, and that Leon Brittan expected to be warned if India looked likely to go ahead with a raid.

According to the Stop Deportations blog, three other letters in the sequence between Butler and Fall were not released, nor was any other file from after March that year.

The Labour MP Tom Watson, whose West Bromwich constituency is home to many Sikhs, has demanded that the Foreign Office release further papers about any British role.

On Oct 31, 1984, two Sikh bodyguards assassinated Indira Gandhi, sparking anti-Sikh riots that killed more than 3,000 people.

—By arrangement with The Guardian