Members of the government’s advisory board on the first world war centenary are at loggerheads over extending the commemorations to mark politically challenging events such as the Irish war of independence and Britain’s slaughter of peaceful protesters in India.

The group, set up under David Cameron, advised on four years of commemorations ranging from traditional events at the Cenotaph to beachside tributes conceived by the director Danny Boyle.

Some members have been pressing to extend the official commemorations to address thorny issues such as the 1919-21 war in Ireland and the role of British forces including the violent police auxiliary force known as the Black and Tans, as well as the 100th anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar in 1919.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest David Cameron on a visit to Amritsar in 2013, when he stopped short of issuing an apology for the massacre. Photograph: Munish Sharma/Reuters

“It’s a missed opportunity,” said Hew Strachan, one of a number of historians who sits on the committee along with former military chiefs and authors such as Sebastian Faulks and Pat Barker. “A number of people felt that we should take in the whole complicated process of establishing peace, and that obviously includes Ireland and why the peace settlements were so hard to impose.”

Despite the relative success of the commemorations, it also appears that the first world war is still regarded by the government as a political hot potato. A freedom of information request by the Guardian for minutes of the advisory board was rejected owing to fears they could prejudice relations with other states involved in the war.

A letter from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said: “The UK’s relationship with many of the states involved in the war are of vital importance. A strained relationship would be likely to result in a breakdown of trust and communications between the parties.”

Oxford college to investigate its own role in colonialism Read more

Another committee member, the Liberal Democrat peer Sir Menzies Campbell, said it had been talking about how to build on a new “greater understanding” of the first world war among younger people.

“But there is a debate – and it still has to be resolved – about you then go on to consider the Versailles treaty and its consequences and of course arising out of that the Irish question and matters of that kind,” he said.

“There are some very interesting questions: was Versailles rubbing the noses of the Germans in the dirt with all the terrible consequences that came with it? There is also the role of the Black and Tans in Ireland who were largely composed of former soldiers who had fought for king and country.”

The committee has yet to hold a final meeting but one member told the Guardian initial suggestions that more challenging post-1918 events should be marked were “effectively blocked” by the chair. “We were told: ‘We’re not going there.’”

Deian Hopkin, a member of the advisory board and expert adviser to the first minister of Wales for the centenary, said it was important to mark the coming of peace but also to question: ‘What kind of peace was this?’

“On the first Remembrance Day in 1919 for example a number of servicemen refused to turn up on the grounds that they were not being treated properly. They wanted jobs, houses, a better life, rather than memorials,” he said.

“In fact, throughout 1919 there were mutinies in the armed forces and in August 1919, there were even race riots in Cardiff when black seamen were attacked. Thinking of what’s going on at the moment we must not forget events such as these. It all reminds us that there is nothing new in history and we still have many lessons to learn.”

Andrew Murrison, a Tory MP on the board, who was appointed by Cameron as his special representative for the remembrance, said of continuing commemorations: “My advice would be to be led by public demand. Over a period like this we have certainly been informed by the desire of the public.

“In general in relation to historical events I think it’s important that the UK government and embassies overseas are sensitive to the needs and aspirations of hosts and other countries.”

Lord Ashton, the minister for the commemorations, acknowledged last week to a Westminster committee that there had been criticism that official events did not go beyond 2018, but said many events were being supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and by other sources to address Versailles and other moments.

A DCMS spokesperson said: “The First World War Advisory Group was set up to provide strategic oversight and advise the Secretary of State on the four year period of commemorations. From the start we were clear this would end with the anniversary of signing the Armistice in 2018.”