New Delhi: The US is committed to protecting diplomatic missions and condemns attacks against journalists, US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said Tuesday.
Patel’s remarks came in the backdrop of pro-Khalistan protesters staging a demonstration outside the Indian embassy in Washington DC on 25 March, during which they also verbally and physically assaulted an Indian journalist, according to videos posted on social media.
The previous week, pro-Khalistan supporters had staged a protest outside the Indian consulate in San Francisco, amid the ongoing manhunt for radical preacher and Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh.
At a press briefing Tuesday, Patel said that while the US supports individuals’ right to protest, it condemns the recent incidents of violence during demonstrations.
“We support the First Amendment rights of protesters, and we support engagement of free speech activities. However, violence or the threat of violence is never an acceptable form of protest,” said the senior official.
The US is committed to taking all appropriate steps, “including coordination with federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities”, to protect diplomatic missions, he added.
Asked about attacks against journalists covering the protests, Patel said, “We condemn any incidents of violence against a member of the media just doing their job.”
In a video posted on social media last week, pro-Khalistan supporters could be seen hurling abuses at the Press Trust of India’s (PTI) Washington DC-based chief US correspondent, Lalit K. Jha. Jha later said that he had even been hit by a protester on his ear.
A day after the incident, the Indian embassy in Washington condemned the attack against the journalist.
“Such activities only underscore the violent and anti-social tendencies of the so called ‘Khalistani protestors’ and their supporters, who routinely engage in wanton violence and vandalism,” it said in a statement dated 25 March.
India has been lodging strong protests with governments in the US, the UK and Canada following a stream of recent pro-Khalistan protests that were held outside various Indian diplomatic missions, many of which turned violent. The diplomatic row began when protesters in the UK pulled down the Indian flag at the Indian High Commission in London on 19 March.
Earlier this week, the Indian government summoned the Canadian High Commissioner in New Delhi over the pro-Khalistan protests outside Indian missions and consulates in the country over the last few days.
“The Government of India sought an explanation on how such elements were allowed, in the presence of police, to breach the security of our diplomatic Mission and Consulates,” a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) read.
Last week, Elizabeth Jones, the Charge d’Affaires of the US embassy in New Delhi, was summoned by the Indian government following pro-Khalistan protests that took place outside the Indian consulate in San Francisco.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)