Scotland Yard apologises to Sikhs over London protest

London, November 1

Scotland Yard has apologised for the “unacceptable” actions of some of its officers during a Sikh protest outside the Indian High Commission here last week.

Twenty arrests had been made after hundreds of Sikh protesters clashed with the Metropolitan Police on October 22 during a demonstration against the alleged police brutality on community members in Punjab.

One police officer was taken to hospital with a head injury.

However, there were some reports of the peaceful demonstration turning violent after Met Police officers became heavy-handed with some of the protesters.

“I would like to reassure the Sikh community that no disrespect or offence was intended and apologise for any distress, hurt or offence that has been caused,” Commander Mak Chishty, the Met’s head of community engagement.

“I requested a meeting with the Sikh community as I had become aware of growing concerns over the policing of the protest at the Indian High Commission on Thursday October 22.

“An incident occurred where a Met Police officer was seen to have taken Nishan Sahib, a sacred flag, from a protester, snapped the stick and threw it to the floor. This is deeply disrespectful to the Sikh community and is not acceptable,” he said.

It also emerged that the police had removed ‘kirpans’, a ceremonial knife carried by Sikhs, from two protesters following their arrests against the orders of a senior officer.

“I understand the distress and hurt that has been caused and I sincerely apologise to our Sikh community for this. I am also aware that ‘kirpans’ were removed from two people once they had been arrested.

“This was against the direction of the senior officer present, who immediately apologised during the protest,” Chishty said, adding that officers deployed on future protests involving Sikh demonstrators would be briefed on the significance of the Nishan Sahib and ‘kirpans’.

A social media group called SikhLivesMatter has been created in the UK to draw attention to the “acts of Indian government’s atrocities which often go unnoticed in the mainstream media”.

Jasveer Singh Gill, a spokesperson for the Sikh Press Association who was at the protest, said: “The point of the protest was to raise awareness and show the Indian authorities that Sikhs of the UK stand in solidarity with the community in the Punjab who are suffering at the hands of Indian authorities.” — PTI