PM protest turns violent after tricolour torn down

Scotland Yard officers step in to rescue Indian scribe caught in incident

London, April 19: Some groups protesting aga- inst atrocities in India during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit here have turned violent after a tricolour was torn down from one of the official flagpoles set up for all 53 Commonwealth countries.

Mr Modi, who is in the UK for bilateral talks and the multilateral Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, was greeted by protesters as he met his British counterpart Theresa May.

Some of the protesters at Parliament Square on Wednesday turned aggressive after the Indian tricolour was torn down from the flagpole.

A metropolitan police statement said police are investigating the case.

“The police is investigating after an Indian flag in Parliament Square was pulled down on Wednesday, 18 April. The flag has been replaced. There have been no arrests. Enquiries continue,” the statement said.

A senior broadcast journalist from one of the leading Indian media channels covering the protests was caught in a violent scrum with some of the more aggressive pro- Khalistani protesters and Scotland Yard officers on duty had to step in to the rescue. The group is planning to file a complaint with the metropolitan police on the incident.

“We have expressed our concerns with the British authorities and they have apologised for the incident. We have been warning against some of these elements out to make trouble and they have assured us of action. The Indian flag has now been replaced,” a senior Indian official associated with the PM’s visit said.

The pro- Khalistani demonstrators from Sikh Federation UK and demonstrators from the so- called “Minorities Against Modi” group, led by Pakistani- origin peer Lord Ahmed, were among nearly 500 protesters who descended upon Parliament Square. These included groups led by some Kashmiri separatist groups.

Officials involved with the Prime Ministerial visit to the UK had said that protests and demonstrations are “part and parcel of any democratic society” as long as they remain peaceful.