New Delhi: Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami was stopped from entering a gurdwara in Glasgow, Scotland, by pro-separatist Sikh protesters Friday. This comes amid a diplomatic row between Ottawa and New Delhi over the killing of separatist leader and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The High Commission of India in London confirmed the incident in a public statement. The statement said Doraiswami was invited for a “planned interaction” organised by the gurdwara committee at the Glasgow Gurdwara Sahib to discuss “community and consular issues”.
“The organisers included senior community leaders, ladies and committee members and a Scottish Member of Parliament. They were threatened and abused by these elements,” it said.
The statement added that there were three individuals — all from outside of Scotland — who attempted to disrupt the interaction and one even tried to “violently force open” Doraiswami’s car door.
“The High Commission of India has reported this disgraceful incident to the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office and the Metropolitan police,” the statement said.
The incident comes days after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed that Indian agents could be linked to Nijjar’s killing on 18 June in Surrey, British Columbia. The accusations have led to both countries expelling each other’s diplomats, India calling for a reduction in the number of Canadian diplomats, and the temporary suspension of visa services to Canadians.
After the incident, UK’s Minister of State for Indo-Pacific Minister of State for Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan said she was “concerned”. She is the first British government official to comment on it. “The safety and security of foreign diplomats is of utmost importance and our places of worship in the UK must be open to all,” she said in a post on X Saturday.
According to former intelligence sources, the incident seems to be a more of an emotional response from the pro-separatist supporters in the UK to Canadian allegations, rather than an organised protest.
Former intelligence officials told ThePrint that while there has been a vocal minority of “pro-Khalistan” sympathisers in the United Kingdom, the vast majority of Sikhs and Indian diaspora living there have interacted positively with the Indian High Commission in the UK.
“The high commission in London has held events in the past and interacted with the diaspora in the UK on extremely friendly terms in the past. This seems to be more of an emotional response or a few individuals attempting to show solidarity with Canadian Sikhs,” one former official told ThePrint.
Significantly, on 25 September 2023, Glasgow Live said the city was witness to the celebration of the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. The procession went through the west end of Glasgow — from Barrowland Park to Kelvingrove Park.
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‘Individuals acting on their own’
A purported video of the incident shared on Instagram shows two pro-separatist protesters stopping Doraiswami from entering the gurdwara. According to the Instagram account ‘sikhyouthuk’, there is an ongoing ban on Indian officials coming to the Glasgow Gurdwara in their official capacity.
The video shows another individual speaking to the camera about how all Indian ambassadors in their official capacity should be greeted in the same manner, adding: “We know what games they are playing, what’s happening in Canada. The Canadian Prime Minister has openly condemned India and expelled Indian diplomats.”
However, Jaswant Singh Thekedar, president of the Gurdwara Miri Piri Sahib at Southall, London, denied there was any such ban. “The people who did this, did it of their own volition. There is no such ban on Indian diplomatic staff from entering gurdwaras,” Thekedar said.
Another veteran Sikh community organiser living in the UK who didn’t want to be named told ThePrint that all people are welcome to gurdwaras regardless of their faith or office they hold.
“According to our faith, all individuals irrespective of their religion are welcome to enter a Gurdwara. A true Sikh would welcome them to our halls and not deny them entrance. That is the path laid down by our Gurus,” he said.
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) general secretary Gurcharan Singh Grewal has condemned the incident. News agency ANI quoted him as saying that the envoy shouldn’t have been stopped from entering the gurdwara and the Sikh temples “are for every religion”.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)