New Delhi: Sikhs protest against disgraceful act by pro-Khalistani supporters in London

New Delhi [India], March 20 (ANI): A gathering of Sikh people on Monday staged a protest against the disrespectful act of Khalistan supporters towards the Indian flag at the High Commission of India in London.

They demanded the authorities concerned take action against the accused and ensure the proper safety of the Indian embassy in the United Kingdom.
Hundreds of people from the Sikh community gathered outside the British High Commission in New Delhi to register their resentment against the pro-Khalistan protest that took place in London a day ago.

At the protest, they were raising slogans of “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and of “Vande Mataram.”

A man who was actively taking part in the protest said that whatever happened in British happened 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 tricolour with the Khalistani flag, think once about how you are an Indian.”

BJP leader Majinder Singh Sirsa also released a video of himself addressing the attempt to pull 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 and 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 tricolour for the safety of which, the Army jawans, deployed at the border are willing to give up their lives,” he added.

Sirsa also appealed to people of the Sikh community to love the tricolour as much as they do love their religion.

Notably, a pro-Khalistan protestor in London climbed the High Commission of India’s balcony and pulled down the Indian flag, a day before on Sunday.

A video of the same incident had gone viral on social video. In the now-viral video, the Khalistani protestor can be seen on the balcony attempting to bring down the Indian flag. At the end of the video, another man reaches the balcony from inside to avert any more harm to the flag.

The senior-most UK diplomat in New Delhi was summoned on Sunday night after the Indian High Commission in the United Kingdom was vandalised. The senior-most UK diplomat in New Delhi was summoned late evening today to convey India’s strong protest at the actions taken by separatist and extremist elements against the Indian High Commission in London earlier in the day, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a press release on Sunday.

An explanation was demanded for the complete absence of British security that allowed these elements to enter the High Commission premises. She was reminded in this regard of the basic obligations of the UK Government under the Vienna Convention.

“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.”

The British High Commissioner Alex Ellis condemned the attack on the Indian High Commission in the United Kingdom today. He condemned the “disgraceful acts” and called them totally unacceptable.

“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.