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21-03-2023
Bureau Report + Agencies
LONDON/ NEW DELHI/ MELBOURNE: A man has been arrested on suspicion of violent disorder after a crowd incident saw windows smashed at the Indian High Commission in London, media reported on Monday.
Metropolitan Police officers were called to the building in Aldwych, Westminster, at around 1:50pm on Sunday, and two security guards sustained minor injuries.
Footage posted on social media showed a man detaching the Indian flag from the building’s first-floor balcony, while a crowd below waved the bright yellow ‘Khalistan’ banners which appeared to encourage him.
They are believed to be supporters of a Sikh separatist movement seeking to create a new homeland or breakaway state.
The Met has launched an investigation into the incident.
“Windows were broken at the High Commission building. Two members of security staff sustained injuries. These are believed to be minor; they did not require hospital treatment,” a spokesperson said.
“Officers attended the location. The majority of those present had dispersed prior to the arrival of police. An investigation was launched, and one male was arrested nearby a short time later on suspicion of violent disorder. Inquiries continue,” added the spokesperson.
The incident was denounced on Twitter by London mayor Sadiq Khan, Foreign Office minister Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon, and the British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis.
“I condemn the violent disorder and vandalism that took place at the Indian High Commission today. There is no place in our city for this kind of behavior. An investigation has been launched by the Met into today’s events,” Khan tweeted.
Lord Ahmad also shared his shock at the incident and called it an “unacceptable action”.
“Am appalled by today’s attack on the Indian High Commission in London. This is a completely unacceptable action against the integrity of the Mission and its staff. The UK Government will always take the security of the Indian High Commission seriously,” he wrote in his tweet.
Four Indian Hindus linked with Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) were caught red-handed outside Melbourne’s Miri Piri Gurdwara to graffiti the Gurdwara and posters of revered Sikh leaders placed outside the Sikh holy place last month.
A viral video shows four men, speaking fluent Hindi and Urdu, apologizing for their attempt to vandalize the Melbourne Gurdwara a few hours before Khalistan Referendum was held at the Federation Square attracting over 55,000 Sikhs living in and around Melbourne. The four men, belonging to ultra-nationalist Hindutva groups, were caught by local Sikhs on the spot.
According to local Sikh leaders, they saw the group moving around Gurdwara suspiciously in a car outside the Sikh holy place. They were seen with cans of spray, sticks and paint. When confronted, they admitted they came to vandalize posters on the property as well as the Gurdwara. The men, who apologized amid their confession, were handed over to authorities.
A video that went viral shows the gang leader accepting that their intentions were not good. He says in the video: “We are sorry. We came here with the intention to spray the posters [of the Khalistan Referendum]. My name is Katan, the others are Dinish, Hardik and Rushil. We are from Indian Gujarat but we live here in Melbourne.”
He says in the confession video: “I am a Hindu. I am not against Punjabi Sikhs. We have come here to spray the posters.”
