UK gurdwara row

INDIAN High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami was not able to pay a scheduled visit to a gurdwara in Glasgow (Scotland) on Friday as Khalistani elements blocked his entry to the place of worship and tried to attack his car. Luckily, the envoy managed to escape unscathed. Even as the gurdwara’s management committee has condemned the incident, claiming that some ‘unknown’ and ‘unruly’ individuals caused a ruckus, it is undeniable that secessionist troublemakers continue to enjoy impunity in the UK and some other Western countries.

The unsavoury episode comes six months after the Indian High Commission in London was attacked during a protest against raids targeting pro-Khalistan activist Amritpal Singh and his supporters in Punjab. In July, provocative posters with pictures and names of two Indian diplomats had surfaced in Canada; the Indian High Commissioner and the Consul General were brazenly vilified as the ‘killers’ of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. These developments had prompted India to request countries such as Canada, the UK, Australia and the US not to give space to Khalistanis as ‘these radical extremist ideologies aren’t good for us, them, or our ties.’

Western democracies would do well to pay heed not only to India’s advice but also to the concerns raised by Colin Bloom, a former adviser to the British Government. In his report ‘The Bloom Review: Does government do God?’, published in April, he has warned of ‘subversive, aggressive and sectarian’ actions of some pro-Khalistan activists in the UK. Bloom has put the onus on the ruling dispensation to ensure that unacceptable and extremist behaviour is not ‘inadvertently legitimised by the government or parliamentary engagement’. The UK and other nations need to deal strictly with the India baiters, who can’t simply be dismissed as fringe elements. Things have come to such a pass due to a liberal asylum policy, coupled with vote bank politics, but it is perhaps not too late to make amends.