Amid the row between India and Canada over the killing of Khalistan sympathiser Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Vikram Doraiswami was on Friday prevented from entering a gurdwara in Glasgow, Scotland. Doraiswami was stopped by a few radicals from entering the Glasgow Gurdwara. He refrained from getting into an argument and left. The issue has been raised with the UK foreign office and also with the police, ANI reported citing sources.
According to a purported video posted on the Instagram channel of ‘Sikh Youth UK,’ a man reportedly a pro-Khalistani activist was seen blocking Doraiswami from entering the Glasgow Gurudwara on Albert Drive, as reported by ANI. A pro-Khalistan activist told TOI that the Indian High Commissioner was scheduled to hold a meeting with the gurdwara committee of the Glasgow Gurdwara on Albert Drive.
“A few people turned up and told him he is not welcome and he left. There was a slight confrontation. I don’t think the gurdwara committee is too happy about what happened. But Indian officials are not welcome in any gurdwara in the UK,” TOI quoted the activist as saying.
“We are fed up with the UK-India collusion. The recent tensions since the Hardeep Singh Nijjar killing have led to British Sikhs being targeted. This is to do with Avtar Singh Khanda and Jagtar Singh Johal too,” he further said. Meanwhile, a formal reaction from the Indian High Commission in London and the Ministry of External Affairs on the incident is awaited.
'Anyone From Any Religion Or Community Can Come': BJP 'Strongly Condemns' Incident
Bharatiya Janata Party condemned the incidet and said anyone from any religion or community can come to a Gurdwara. He also said that Sikhs are represented everywhere in the world and India is the safest place for them.
BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said, "I strongly condemn this (that Vikram Doraiswami was allegedly stopped from entering a gurdwara in Scotland)... Anyone from any religion or community can come here (Gurdwara)... We are not that religion that believes in violence instead we are among those who are saviours of humanity... Sikhs are the saviours... PM Modi has praised the work of our community... Sikhs are represented everywhere in the world... The safest place for the Sikhs in the world is in India," as quoted by ANI.
India- Canada Diplomatic Row
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged to have found credible inputs from Canadian and Five Eyes intelligence agencies about the "potential" involvement of agents of the Indian government and the killing of Sikh extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. His remarks were rejected by India as "absurd" and "motivated". Canada subsequently expelled a top Indian diplomat which was followed by the expulsion of a senior Canadian diplomat in India as well.
Nijjar was killed on June 18 in British Columbia by masked men outside a Gurdwara. He had been designated as a terrorist in 2020 by India.