Pro-India protestors attack Kashmiris, Sikhs in London

• Parking outside Indian HC, vans proclaim Free Kashmir, Khalistan and call for freedom in Assam, Nagaland and Manipur

LONDON: Pro-India protestors attacked Kashmiri and Sikh demonstrators outside the Indian High Commission where victims of the Indian atrocities were jointly recording their protest, a private TV channel reported.

Traditionally, the Kashmiris and the Sikhs demonstrate on India’s Republic Day outside the Indian High Commission in London to support their right to self-determination and national independence. However, it was the first time that Indian officials organised a counter-protest.

The channel reported that the counter-protest turned violent as pro-Indian protestors attacked Kashmiri and Sikh communities. Scotland Yard officials had to call for backup as they tried to separate the protestors from the pro-India elements, who had resorted to issuing threats and also threw a few water bottles.

The pro-India protestors were carrying placards accusing the Kashmiri and Sikh community members of being ‘terrorists.’ But they had to eventually retreat once it was clear that they were getting a more than robust response from a spirited gathering of Kashmiri and Sikh supporters.

India has been incensed at its diplomats being recently banned from speaking at many Sikh Gurdwaras in the UK, Canada, and the US. Also, the vans parked outside the Indian High Commission proclaimed Free Kashmir, Khalistan Zindabad and calling for freedom in Assam, Nagaland and Manipur.

Following complaints from the Indian lobby last week, Transport for London issued a circular to stop advertisement agencies from displaying the messages on public transport. Lord Nazir Ahmed led the protestors and condemned the extremist elements that had sought to prevent peaceful democratic protest. The speakers said that their communities would never be intimidated by such cowardly tactics.

Addressing on the occasion, Lord Qurban Hussain asked the UN Security Council to intervene and bring peace to the most dangerous conflict zone in the world today. He also demanded right to self-determination for the Kashmiri people who are suffering worst ever Indian atrocities.

Council of Khalistan President Amrik Singh Sahota said that the international community should hold India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to account for not only his personal but also his country’s record on human rights. As a country that formally rejects the right to self-determination, the role of responsible world bodies was to punish, not reward India, he said.

He said that the conflicts arising from that illegal position had led to hundreds of thousands of deaths and untold misery. Assam Watch representative Dr Mukul Hazarika said that India must return the sovereign status of the shackled deserving nations viz the Kashmiris, Khalistanis and the nationalities of Western South East Asia.