Sikh activists pull down Indian flag from mission in London, hoist Khalistan flag

Pro-Khalistan activists in the United Kingdom entered Indian mission in London, pulled down Indian flag and replaced it with the Khalistani flag.

Baffled by the growing support for the Sikh cause both at home and abroad, the latest move prompted New Delhi to summon the UK diplomat to India to the Foreign Office late on Sunday evening and sought an explanation into the entry of activists of Khalistan to the Indian High Commission and replacing the Indian flag with the Khalistani flag.

In a bid to let go of embarrassment, India told the diplomat at the UK High Commission that the UK Government’s “indifference” to the security of Indian diplomatic premises and personnel in the country was “unacceptable”.

In a statement, Ministry of External Affairs said the UK Government was expected to take immediate steps to identify, arrest and prosecute each one of those involved in Sunday’s incident, and put in place stringent measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

In videos shared on social media, the pro-Khalistan activists were heard raising ‘Khalistan Zindabad’ slogans on the High Commission premises. They also raised anti-India slogans while holding up a poster of Khalistani sympathiser and Sikh leader Amritpal Singh.

The incident is the latest in a spate of attacks on Indian missions in the UK, Canada, the US and Australia.

On March 10, PM Narendra Modi had said, “It is unfortunate that over the last few weeks we have been receiving regular news of attacks in Australia.” In the UK, aggressive demonstrations before the High Commission in 2019 against the lockdown in Kashmir and CAA/NRC had prompted PM Modi to speak to then UK PM Boris Johnson over providing security to Indiandiplomaticpremises.