London, May 1 (PTI) A large cluster of Indian community groups and diaspora organisations gathered outside the High Commission of India in London on Thursday to counter a protest organised by pro-Khalistan extremists.
The protesters, contained across the road from India House behind barricades with Metropolitan Police officers on patrol, were outnumbered and out-chanted by the counter-protesters on the Indian side.
Waving the Indian Tricolour and placards condemning terrorism, the demonstrators chanted slogans hailing the Sikh faith towards the gathering across the road.
“This demonstration is in response to a pro-Khalistan protest organised by separatist groups. Members of the Indian diaspora have gathered in large numbers to express their support for India’s unity and sovereignty,” said the Friends of India Society International (FISI) UK, one of the groups behind Thursday’s counter-protest.
“They chanted slogans such as ‘Jo Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal’, ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Vande Mataram’ while waving the Indian tricolour to express our message of peace,” the group said.
It follows a similar demonstration at India House in London on Sunday evening when the groups gathered to counter a Pakistani protest against what was branded as “Indian propaganda” in the wake of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam.
A number of ‘All Eyes on Pahalgam’ protests and vigils have been organised by Indian diaspora groups in different parts of the UK over the weekend, including Manchester, Edinburgh in Scotland and Belfast in Northern Ireland, to condemn Pakistan’s alleged support for terrorist outfits.
Earlier this week, several cross-party British MPs overwhelmingly condemned the killing of 26 innocent tourists in the terrorist attack in Kashmir last week and also raised concerns about its impact on diaspora communities during an urgent question in the House of Commons.
“This escalation is unsettling for communities within the UK. British Pakistanis and British Indians are valued parts of our community, but we look to all community and faith leaders to spread the message that now is the time for coming together across religious and ethnic differences, not to play out the tensions between two states on the streets of the UK, and we will continue to send that message,” UK Foreign Office Hamish Falconer told Parliament. PTI AK GRS GRS GRS
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