BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Monday stirred controversy by accusing the Congress party of seeking assistance from the British Army during the 1984 Operation Blue Star, claiming that the attack on the Golden Temple was premeditated and executed with foreign support.
Speaking to ANI, Dubey said that official communication between British and Indian authorities in early 1984 suggests that the Indian government sought “technical and physical help” from Britain months before the military operation took place in June.
“A letter from February 1984 by the British Foreign Ministry mentions that India asked for assistance. This proves that the Congress government had been planning the Golden Temple attack for six months and carried it out under British supervision,” Dubey claimed.
He further alleged that the Congress was responsible for three major betrayals of the Sikh community:
- Giving away Kartarpur Sahib to Pakistan during the 1947 partition.
- Taking military action against the Golden Temple in 1984.
- Failing to prevent and later allegedly covering up the 1984 anti-Sikh riots following Indira Gandhi’s assassination.
Dubey accused the Congress of manipulating Sikh representation in politics to mask its misdeeds, citing the appointments of Giani Zail Singh as President during Operation Blue Star and Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister in 2004.
To support his claims, he shared a letter on social media reportedly exchanged between British officials Brian Fall and Hugh Taylor, alleging it indicates British military presence in Amritsar at the time of the operation.
“For Congress, the Sikh community is just a pawn,” Dubey said.
He also revived debate around Kartarpur Sahib, asserting that it was handed over to Pakistan through an agreement signed in 1960 by Congress leader Sardar Swaran Singh.
Dubey also weighed in on the ongoing language row in Maharashtra, condemning MNS for targeting Hindi speakers while remaining silent about speakers of other languages like Urdu, Tamil, or Telugu.
“If you’re brave, try doing this outside Maharashtra—in Bihar, UP, or Tamil Nadu—you’ll face the consequences,” he said, targeting Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray, and accusing them of using divisive tactics ahead of the BMC elections.
In a provocative social media post, Dubey challenged the MNS, saying, “Even a dog becomes a lion in its own house. Decide who is the dog and who is the lion.”
The remarks are likely to trigger political backlash both from the Congress and regional parties in Maharashtra, especially as sensitive issues like Operation Blue Star and linguistic identity are reignited in the national discourse.