US: Sikh leaders condemn violence outside Indian Consulates in San Francisco, London

Washington [US], March 21 : After the Indian Consulate in San Francisco was attacked by extremist elements, Sikh leaders in the US raised concerns regarding the issue and said that everybody has the right to protest but it should be peaceful and no violence or vandalism should happen.

While speaking to , Jasdeep Singh, a Sikh leader, said that violence in any form is condemnable.

"We condemn any violence that has happened outside the Indian Embassy in San Francisco or the desecration of Indian flag in London. Everybody has a right to protest but it should be peaceful and no violence or vandalism should happen," he told .

He further added by saying that whatever is shown in media regarding the ongoing Khalistan movement in America and Canada is all hyped up. "Whatever you're seeing in media, that there's a Khalistan movement going on in America & Canada is all hyped up. There are more than a million Sikhs who live in North America and out of that, only 50 show up outside the Indian Embassy to protest," he added.

After vandalism in London, Khalistan supporters allegedly attacked Indian Consulate in San Francisco (SFO). Videos of supporters breaking the doors and barging into the office surfaced on social media.

The visuals of the San Francisco consulate vandalism have been doing the rounds on social media, however, it is yet to be confirmed by Indian officials. As per visuals, it can be confirmed that this happened outside the consulate, but the date cannot be confirmed.

In a separate statement, another Sikh leader Balgendra Singh Shami also condemned the act of vandalism of Indian High Commission in the UK and at Indian Consulate in San Francisco.

"Whatever happened in Punjab is very unfortunate. I also condemn the violent incident that happened in United Kingdom & at Indian consulate in San Francisco. As we are democratic country, we have full rights to protest but it should be peaceful," he told .

Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS), an Indian advocacy and awareness group on Sunday (local time) said that it "strongly suspect Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is behind," attacks on Indian missions in UK and US.

"We strongly suspect Pakistan's ISI is behind instigating and funding Sikh radicalization with false propaganda. We ask Indian Americans including the Sikh majority to rise against the extremism," read the FIIDS statement.

"We are also appalled by the complete law and order failure in both in London as well as in SFO where a few radicalized separatists attacked India's diplomatic missions," added the statement.

"It is extremely concerning to see that the United Kingdom and the United States of America are failing to fulfil the commitments as per the Vienna convention to protect diplomatic missions. We would urge law and order institutions like the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the FBI as well as the CIA to ensure that terrorism finds no place and support in the United States of America," the statement added.

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