LONDON, UK—In June of 1984, Indira Gandhi chose a Sikh holy day when the Sikh temples, or Gurdwaras, were crowded to shutdown Punjab and attack dozens of historical Sikh shrines—revolving around the so-called Operation Bluestar at the Darbar Sahib, or Golden Temple. Lieutenant-General Kuldeep Brar, now 78, led the siege in which thousands of innocent civilians were massacred. Last year, he was attacked as he walked with his wife in central London on 30 September.
Mandeep Singh Sandhu, 34, of Birmingham, Dilbag Singh, 37, and Harjit Kaur, 39, of London were convicted at Southwark Crown Court of wounding with intent last week. Barjinder Singh Sangha, 33, of Wolverhampton, had admitted the charge.
The jury was told a one-sided story in relation to 1984 about how Brar’s role in the Indian Army had “made him a target for Sikh extremist groups.”
Prosecutor Annabel Darlow said, “This was no random attack. This was a highly premeditated assault by people who thought about what they were doing and planned it.”
The jury of nine women and two men took just an hour to convict the trio.
Lt Gen Brar and his wife Meena were on their way from their hotel for a night in the West End when the attack happened.
The Attack
At trial, Harjit Kaur was described as being key to the ambush. The jury heard that when the defendants found out Lt Gen Brar was on a private holiday in London with no security, they made two reconnaissance missions over two days to check out his movements.
On the night of the attack Ms Kaur tailed the Indian general and his wife, following them into a casino and then a restaurant. She boarded the same bus as the former soldier and his wife in order to follow their movements and phone through reports to the rest of the gang, who were in waiting.
When the couple reached Old Quebec Street, Barjinder Singh Sangha “drew a knife as the other men held the victim”, the jury were told. As the Singhs fled, one of them dropped his mobile phone giving police important clues about the attackers.
Over the years, Brar has survived several assassination attempts and still receives death threats, as the military operation “has not been forgotten”, the court heard.
Brar was left with a 12-inch cut running across his neck and jaw and another three-inch cut to the jaw.
Speaking via a videolink from India, Lt Gen Brar said as a result of the attack his protection ranking was raised to the highest possible.
The trio, along with Singh Sangha, will be sentenced on 19 September.
The attack on Brar in England leaves no doubt that Sikhs are still concerned about why the instigators of the Sikh Genocide, Operation Blue Star, and 1984 Sikh pogroms have not been punished.
To their dismay, foreign Governments have continued to issue visas to Indian officials who are guilty of human rights abuses. The role of people like Kuldip Brar, Jagdish Tytler, KP Gill, Amitabh Bachchan, and Narindera Modi in human rights abuses is well known to the UK but they are still given permission to enter the country.
While anyone responsible for taking the law into their own hands must be punished, it is saddening to see democratic countries like the UK continue to celebrate genocide instigators.
