Peace rally by Indians against Khalistani extremism in San Francisco

Days after a group of pro-Khalistan protesters vandalised the Indian Consulate in San Francisco, the diaspora gathered outside the building on Friday and waved the tricolour in solidarity against the incident.

A huge crowd of Indian Americans turned up for the peace rally outside its consulate in San Francisco as a show of support for India’s unity. Criticising the destructive elements of Sikh separatism, the Indian-American community chanted ‘Vande Mataram’ and other slogans while dancing and holding the US flag along with tricolour. Local police ensured there were no incidents of violence as few Khalistan supporters were also in the crowd chanting separatist slogans, as per news agency PTI.

On Sunday, Khalistani sympathisers desecrated the consulate building and installed flags in support of the separatist movement, which were later removed by the consulate staff. The incident evoked sharp reactions from NRIs who called for strict action against the guilty.

The Indian diaspora in London, too, had registered a strong protest against the pulling down of tricolour by Khalistan supporters at the Indian High Commission in UK by gathering outside the office demanding strict action on Tuesday.

A statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Canada was spray painted with pro-Khalistan and anti-India graffiti on Thursday, the latest in a string of such incidents. The vandalism occurred near the City Hall in the town of Hamilton, in the province of Ontario. Meanwhile in Canberra, Khalistan supporters gathered outside Australian parliament to protest against police crackdown on radical preacher Amritpal Singh and his associates in Punjab.

On Monday, India lodged a strong protest with the US Charge d’Affaires in Delhi over the consulate attack. The US government was also asked to take necessary steps to avoid the occurrence of similar incidents in future, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.