Khalistani separatist protest in front of an Indian Embassy in Washington - Indian journalist attacked

Washington: After London and San Francisco, there are protests held by Khalistani separatists outside the Indian embassy in Washington. A journalist, Lalit Jha of PTI, was abused and attacked. The situation did not escalate due to intervention by local police. The Indian embassy in the US has condemned the act. The pattern of protesting outside Indian embassies and high commissions in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia suggests that the Khalistani separatist are seeking attention from the international media.

The Indian embassy strongly condemned the protest and thanked the local police for the timely intervention to rescue the Indian journalist. The Indian embassy has highlighted that this incident exposes the violent face of the Khalistan protestors. The PTI journalist Lalit Jha was attacked for covering the protests and under the pretext of informing the Indian government. Many ex-military officials demand that the individuals protesting be identified and stripped of their Indian passports and other facilities with a denied entry into India.

Therefore, the Indian journalist was attached for covering the protests. Previously during the protest outside the high commissioning office in London, the protestors wore masks to hide their identity. India and demand have summoned a Canadian high commissioner to take stringent action for vandalising the Indian High commissioning office is demanded.

There is a strong possibility that Pakistan’s ISI could be behind the spurt of these protests. The UK and Canada try to pressure India by not acting against the protestors. India has raised the issue with these countries and has responded by reducing the security of the British High Commission in New Delhi.

However, the anti-India protests of the Khalistani separatists have not met with much success. Analysts say that attempts to create unrest and violence by demanding Khalistan in India will not succeed.

A handful of Khalistani separatists abroad have been campaigning against India by falsely claiming the situation in India’s Punjab. The Indian High Commission in London had warned that no one should fall victim to the propaganda and assured that Punjab was safe.

Moreover, Indian embassies in other countries counter the fake narrative of Khalistani. As the protest continued, it was responded by nationalist Indians at the place of protests. This has made the protestors very uneasy leading to violent clashes.

Protestors are expecting the Indian government to react strongly. However, the Ministry of External Affairs of India has not given any importance to these incidents. At the same time, India is reminding the countries where these protests will be responsible for the security of Indian embassies and high commissions. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar recently criticised these countries as not fulfilling their responsibilities and adopting a hypocritical policy regarding their security and that of others.

हिंदी मराठी