West’s deafening silence as Khalistani radicals go on a rampage

1. Khalistanis are attacking Indian Missions and getting away with it

India is being attacked on foreign soil. Indian Missions are being targeted and even forced to shut down. Last month it was Brisbane, London, San Francisco. It’s the same script playing out over and over again. Khalistanis are attacking our Missions and getting away with it. India condemns and moves on. This cycle has to stop. These are terrorist elements funded by Pakistan.

Does it ever occur to you that Pakistan is home to a larger Punjab than India. It has important Sikh shrines. Lahore was the seat of the Sikh Empire but the Khalistanis do not want Pakistani Punjab. They only want the Indian State.

They are an extension of the Pakistani Terror factory and the West is happy to help them flourish. Why is their funding not being cut ? Why are the attackers not facing action ? Because of vote-bank politics, western hypocrisy and free speech.

Sikhs form almost one per cent of the voting population in the UK and more than two per cent of the voting population in Canada. They have a political voice and representation, and they target Indians and get away with it.

How would Washington respond if their Embassy in India came under attack ? How would London respond, and how is New Delhi responding ?

2. What are the Police in the UK, US, Canada, Australia doing to prevent this terror ?

The Indian High Commission in London was attacked on 19^th March. A pro-Khalistan mob surrounded the building and removed the Indian flag. One of the staffers is being lauded for protecting the Indian flag. He was seen knocking the Khalistani flag from the hand of an attacker, and while his heroism should be appreciated it also brings up a question – where was the British police ? What were they doing ? Could they not see the attack on the Indian High Commission ? Why did a diplomatic staffer have to protect the Indian flag ? Why has it become such a common occurrence in the UK, US, Canada, Australia ? Indian Missions are routinely attacked by Khalistanis.

3. The Khalistani movement is a violent secessionist insurgency

After London, the Indian Consulate in San Francisco came under attack and this too was a violent assault. The pro-Khalistani gangs were seen smashing windows and encircling the Consulate staff. They vandalized the walls of the Consulate and wrote ‘Free Amritpal’. The Khalistani movement is a violent secessionist insurgency which was at its peak in the 1980s. It advocates for a new Sikh Nation to be carved out of the Indian State of Punjab. The Khalistani movement has led to thousands of deaths including most famously India’s former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The insurgency was stamped out in the 1980s but it has reared its ugly head again.

4. The western Governments provided a breeding ground to terrorists

Indian security forces are currently in pursuit of the latest figurehead. His name is Amritpal Singh. He’s 30-years-old and he styles himself as a new Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, willing to use violence, even suicide bombers to carve out a new State. He’s reportedly recruiting human bombs like the man who murdered former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh. Amritpal is currently on the run from the Police. They started an operation to nab him which triggered fresh attacks on Indian Missions in the West, but what did the western Governments do ? First they gave a breeding ground to the Khalistanis, and now in light of the Amritpal episode, they failed to beef up security at Indian Missions.

India’s External Affairs Ministry has hauled up the UK, and their top diplomat in Delhi was summoned. “India finds unacceptable the indifference of the UK Government to the security of Indian premises and personnel in the UK. It is expected that the UK would take immediate steps to identify, arrest and prosecute each of those involved in today’s incident and put in place stringent measures to prevent the recurrence of such events”. The UK has of course condemned the attack. The British High Commissioner to India called it disgraceful. UK Minister of State, Tariq Ahmed, tweeted that he was appalled. But are they willing to do more than tweet ?

5. Khalistanis don’t talk about wanting to reclaim Lahore, the seat of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Empire

India has been warning western Governments about Khalistanis for years. Every time a Hindu temple is defiled or a sham referendum takes place, India has asked for action to be taken but the West has continued to harbour and protect these Khalistanis. The most glaring examples are in Canada. Look at Canadian Minister Jagmeet Singh tweeting that he was concerned about an internet blackout in Punjab. He called it a suspension of civil liberties, but he failed to mention that the Police are trying to apprehend an armed fugitive. The fact is the West has provided a lifeline to Khalistanis who could be funding terrorism.

6. The role of Pakistan’s Inter-services Intelligence

Reports say that Pakistan’s Inter-services Intelligence (ISI) agency has a hand in both the present unrest and Amritpal’s rights. Amritpal was allegedly trained by the ISI which is hardly surprising. The ISI is also known to have helped the insurgency in the 1980s which explains why the Khalistanis only want the Indian State of Punjab. They don’t talk about wanting to reclaim Lahore, the seat of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Empire in Pakistan. These are places deeply tied to the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak.

During Partition, the biggest part of Punjab went to Pakistan, but the Khalistanis don’t want it. They only want to carve a Sikh State out of India and that alone should tell you about Pakistan’s role.

7. The role of the West

It claims to protect the right to free speech and peaceful protest as long as it’s happening somewhere else. Look at this movement – though it has always been a violent insurgency, the Consulate attacks could be just a preview of what’s to come. Is the West investigating the Khalistanis ?

Is it looking at reports of them funding terror attacks on Indian soil or should we wait for suicide bombings in Punjab before the West wakes up and cracks down on Khalistani terror ? How would London react if India were hosting violent separatists from Northern Ireland or Scotland ? How would Canada react if India was home to secessionists from Quebec ? The protection of Indians on their soil is their moral and legal duty.

Meanwhile, New Delhi cannot just complain and wait for the next attack. It has to take action. The attackers are clearly visible on camera. Identify them and make an example out of them. Cancel their OCI cards, investigate their links to India and crack down hard, because, lack of tough action now will be read as India’s weakness and this is the point where we say enough is enough.

– Palki Sharma Upadhyay (Credit : Excerpts from a broadcast on ‘Vantage’ programme on Firstpost.)

Lack of tough action now will be read as India’s weakness and this is the point where we say enough is enough !