San Francisco Police urged to take immediate action against those responsible for Indian consulate vandalism

PTI

Washington, March 21

Indian-Americans on Monday expressed outrage at the incidents of vandalism and defacing of the Indian Consulate in San Francisco and urged the city police and law-enforcement officials to take immediate and necessary actions against those responsible.

"We call on the San Francisco Police Department to take immediate action against those responsible for the recent vandalism at the consulate and provide safety and security to all working there and visiting the embassy for their needs," community leader Ajay Jain Bhutoria said a day after the Sikh separatists vandalised the Indian consulate in San Francisco.

One of the consulate employees sustained minor injuries.

"We want to take action against whoever did that violent act in San Francisco, because this country allows us to do peaceful protests and we want to keep it that way. Whenever there are some issues, we have the right to demonstrate peacefully. But we would like the authorities to take strict action against people who committed violence in San Francisco at the Indian Consulate," Jassee Singh from the Sikhs of America said.

Indiaspora in a statement condemned the violence and vandalism at the Indian Consulate. "We hope our friends at the consulate and our community in the Bay Area are safe and that swift action is taken by law enforcement." 

Strongly condemning the attack, Bhutoria said it is important to remember that everyone has the right to protest peacefully, but violence, threats, and abuses have no place in society and are unacceptable.

"We must ensure that the staff of the San Francisco India consulate are provided with a safe and secure environment to provide services to their constituents. It is unacceptable that members of our community should feel unsafe when trying to visit the consulate," he said.