On Monday, a group of Sikhs protested the disrespectful behaviour of Khalistan supporters towards the Indian flag at the High Commission of India in London. They requested that the government investigate the accused and safeguard the protection of the Indian embassy in the United Kingdom. Hundreds of Sikhs gathered outside the British High Commission in New Delhi to express their displeasure with the pro-Khalistan rally that took place in London the day before. They were shouting “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Vande Mataram” during the demonstration.
A man who was actively participating in the demonstration stated that whatever occurred in Britain was wrong. “The Khalistani flag was raised instead of India’s flag, which is wrong as we are Sikhs of India, and we love India,” he added.
Another protestor said, “We are against Khalistan. I want to appeal to all the members of the Sikh community that before replacing the Indian tricolor with the Khalistani flag, think once about how you are an Indian.”
Majinder Singh Sirsa, a BJP politician, also published a video in which he addressed the attempt to bring down the Indian flag.
He said, “We condemn the attempt to bring down the Indian flag at the embassy in the United Kingdom. The people involved in such incidents do not represent Sikh feelings at all.”
“This is the same flag, when the Sikhs of Afghanistan pleaded for help across the world but no one stepped forward, at that time PM of India sent a special ship to evacuate the Indians from there. This is the same tricolor for the safety of which, the Army jawans, deployed at the border are willing to give up their lives,” he added.
Sirsa also urged the Sikh community to love the tricolor as much as they love their religion. Incidentally, on Sunday, a pro-Khalistan protestor scaled the balcony of India’s High Commission in London and tore down the Indian flag.
On social media, a video of the same incident had gone viral. The Khalistani protestor can be seen on the balcony attempting to bring down the Indian flag in the now-viral footage. Towards the end of the film, another man climbs the balcony from inside to prevent further damage to the flag.
On Sunday night, the senior-most UK diplomat in New Delhi was called after the Indian High Commission in the UK was vandalised. The senior-most UK diplomat in New Delhi was summoned late this evening to express India’s strong protest at the actions taken earlier in the day by separatist and extremist elements against the Indian High Commission in London, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs on Sunday.
An explanation for the utter lack of British security that allowed these people to penetrate the High Commission premises was required. She was reminded of the UK Government’s basic duties under the Vienna Convention in this regard.
“India finds unacceptable the indifference of the UK Government to the security of Indian diplomatic premises and personnel in the UK,” the MEA press release said. Demanding “immediate steps” from the UK Government, the official press release from the MEA said, “It is expected that the UK Government would take immediate steps to identify, arrest and prosecute each one of those involved in today’s incident, and put in place stringent measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.”
Today’s attack on the Indian High Commission in the United Kingdom was denounced by British High Commissioner Alex Ellis. He termed the “disgraceful behaviours” utterly inappropriate and denounced them. “I condemn the disgraceful acts today against the people and premises of the High Commission of India – totally unacceptable,” British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis tweeted.
