LONDON: UK foreign secretary James Cleverly has warned against violence being used against the Indian high commission in London or its staff during any protest following a TOI report on alarming posters being shared online inciting violence against two Indian senior diplomats in Britain and calling for a “Kill India” Khalistan rally outside the London mission on Saturday.
Cleverly tweeted on Thursday that any direct attacks on the Indian high commission in London are “completely unacceptable” and that the British government had made clear to Indian high commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami that the safety of staff at India’s London mission “is paramount”. That tweet was retweeted by British high commissioner to India Alex Ellis saying he wished to amplify the importance the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office places on “the safety and security of friends, colleagues, and their premises at the High Commission of India in London”.
The posters incite violence towards Doraiswami and Shashank Vikram, consul-general of India, Birmingham, falsely branding them the “faces in the UK” of the killers of pro-Khalistan activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The posters claim that there was an “Indian hand” in the assassination of Nijjar. Nijjar, wanted on terror charges in India, was closely associated with SFJ and helped organise the unofficial Khalistan referendum in Canada. He was gunned down in Canada on June 18 by two masked men outside the gurdwara of which he was president.
Two security staff at the Indian high commission in London were injured after a scuffle with a pro-Khalistan protester who tried to rip down the Indian flag in March. Windows were smashed with flagpoles and other objects and they remain shattered. The historic building is listed so special permission is required to repair the windows. There are also question marks over who should pay for it.
Although the Canadian high commissioner in India, Cameron MacKayove, was summoned this week over a similar Khalistan poster targeting Indian diplomats in Canada, TOI understands there are no plans to summon Ellis as the situation in the UK is not seen in New Delhi as anywhere near as serious as the one in Canada where Indira Gandhi’s assassination was recently celebrated.
The UK authorities, according to sources, seem to be cooperating with the Indian authorities.
Cleverly tweeted on Thursday that any direct attacks on the Indian high commission in London are “completely unacceptable” and that the British government had made clear to Indian high commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami that the safety of staff at India’s London mission “is paramount”. That tweet was retweeted by British high commissioner to India Alex Ellis saying he wished to amplify the importance the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office places on “the safety and security of friends, colleagues, and their premises at the High Commission of India in London”.
The posters incite violence towards Doraiswami and Shashank Vikram, consul-general of India, Birmingham, falsely branding them the “faces in the UK” of the killers of pro-Khalistan activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The posters claim that there was an “Indian hand” in the assassination of Nijjar. Nijjar, wanted on terror charges in India, was closely associated with SFJ and helped organise the unofficial Khalistan referendum in Canada. He was gunned down in Canada on June 18 by two masked men outside the gurdwara of which he was president.
Two security staff at the Indian high commission in London were injured after a scuffle with a pro-Khalistan protester who tried to rip down the Indian flag in March. Windows were smashed with flagpoles and other objects and they remain shattered. The historic building is listed so special permission is required to repair the windows. There are also question marks over who should pay for it.
Although the Canadian high commissioner in India, Cameron MacKayove, was summoned this week over a similar Khalistan poster targeting Indian diplomats in Canada, TOI understands there are no plans to summon Ellis as the situation in the UK is not seen in New Delhi as anywhere near as serious as the one in Canada where Indira Gandhi’s assassination was recently celebrated.
The UK authorities, according to sources, seem to be cooperating with the Indian authorities.