Kashmir protest outside Indian embassy in London denied nod
LONDON/NEWDELHI:The October 27 protest on the Kashmir issue wont’ be allowed to gather or culminate outside the Indian high commission in London, Scotland Yard informed the organisers following sustained pressure from New Delhi over the potential for a repeat of recent violence.
The protest, expected to gather 10,000 people, was due to begin at Downing Street at 10 am and end at 5 pm outside India House, as the high commission in London is known, on Diwali. It will now begin at 2 pm in Trafalgar Square and end at the same venue, and violators will face arrest under section 14 of the Public Order Act.
The development came in the wake of mounting pressure from Indian quarters concerned over a repeat of violence witnessed during similar protests on August 15 and September 3. India sent a “note verbale” – an unsigned diplomatic correspondence – to the UK Foreign Office on the issue, amid fury that concerns raised by the India community and New Delhi over such anti-Indian activities were perceived to have been treated as “routine”.
In New Delhi, external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told a weekly news briefing that the UK had assured the Indian side it would take all steps to prevent the violence. The matter figured in the House of Commons on Wednesday, when Conservative MP Bob Blackman recalled the violence outside India House by “pro-Pakistani organisations” on August 15 and September 3, and asked Prime Minister Boris Johnson what was being done to prevent a recurrence on Sunday. Johnson said he joined Blackman in “deploring demonstrations that end up being intimidating in any way”.
Blackman wrote to London mayor Sadiq Khan to do everything he could to ensure the protest does not proceed, and added “Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist diasporas are worried that authorities in the UK are not doing enough to protest them”.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We respect the right to peaceful protest within the law but strongly condemn any damage to diplomatic missions.”