Britain’s hopes of bringing the curtain down on the incident on Parliament Square when the Indian flag was taken down and ripped are fading with the Indian Diaspora and others pressing it for more action.

The incident happened in April during protests by pro-Khalistani groups during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the UK. An Indian journalist was also intimidated.

Over 21,700 people have signed a petition demanding “action against the culprits who brought down the Indian flag and tore it despite the watchful eyes of British police.”

On Monday a meeting is set to take place in Parliament for members of the public and politicians concerned about the developments, including the treatment of Aaj Tak journalist Loveena Tandon.

She has filed a police complaint that she was surrounded by a group of protesters, who she says attempted to intimidate her.

“There are a lot of people from the community and not just the Indian Diaspora who have stressed their concern, not just about the flag being ripped in the presence of the police but about the attack on the journalist, and are eager to know what the British government are going to do about it,” said Virendra Sharma, the Labour MP for Ealing Southall, who is hosting the meeting following requests from members of the local community.

Accurate action

“I will be stressing we need to stop this and take action… it doesn’t go along with the British tradition of tolerance. If a journalist is not given the chance to freely take up issues or give their view points in this country, where can they do so freely?” The meeting will look to establish how best pressure could be applied to ensure that people involved in the incident were prosecuted, if necessary, within the law as it stands.

Another group is planning to take the petition — started by the Friends of India Society International UK (which took part in a rally supporting Modi’s visit to the UK last month) — to Downing Street on Monday calling for action. An One Indian Supreme Court lawyer, EV Venugopal, warned of further legal action, potentially through the International Criminal Court, should Britain not take sufficient action.

“We have decided to take this to its logical end… this criminal activity should be curbed,” he told a press conference in London earlier this week, criticising what he believed was the British government’s lenient approach to the incident and UK-based Khalistan campaigners generally. “If these activities were happening in India we would condemn them seriously… we would put them behind bars and show them the law… we expect the same reciprocity…”

At the time of the incident in mid-April, the British government expressed its disappointment at what it described as actions by a “small minority” on Parliament Square. Tandon, who saw the incident, described how the flag had been ripped by scissors and how she was cornered by some protesters as she sought to cover the incident. “I was pushed, abused and intimidated. A gentleman nearby had to rescue me and eventually the police came to lead me to safety,” she said at the time.

According to a video footage of the events on the square, the tearing of the flag was carried out by a group of pro-Khalistan demonstrators who had come together with Kashmiri separatist groups as part of the Minorities Against Modi protest. Entirely separate peaceful protests against Modi also happened on the day, alongside support rallies.

Source of tensions

While India said it had expressed its concerns over the incident, which Britain had regretted at the “highest levels” when asked about the incident at the end of the Commonwealth summit two days later, Prime Minister Theresa May appeared not to know about the incident.

The issue of Khalistani — and other separatist movements — has long been a source of tensions between India and the UK, with India on occasion expressing its concern over the need for tougher action from the UK. Ahead of the April rally India had warned Britain of the potential for violent disruptive activity. “We received an allegation of assault on 19 April relating to an incident in Parliament Square on 18 April. No arrests. Enquiries continue,” said the Metropolitan Police in a statement.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW