Indian Envoy To UK Stopped From Entering Scotland Gurudwara Amid India-Canada Tensions

Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Vikram Doraiswami, was stopped from entering gurdwara in Glasgow, Scotland on Friday. A video posted on 'Sikh Youth UK's Instagram channel showed a man, allegedly a pro-Khalistani activist, preventing Doraiswami from entering the Glasgow Gurudwara on Albert Drive.

The purported video captures the man's statement, "...They are hurting Sikhs in Canada and other places; every Sikh should protest against any Indian Ambassador like we did here in Glasgow." 'Sikh Youth UK' claimed that there is an ongoing ban on Indian officials visiting the gurdwara in their official capacities, as reported by ANI.

In the video, two men can be seen near the High Commissioner's car in the parking area. One attempt to open the locked car door from the inside and the high commissioner's car eventually leaves the Gurudwara premises. Another man in the video conveys that this is how any Indian ambassador or official visiting the Gurdwara will be treated.

A pro-Khalistan activist told the TOI that the Indian High Commissioner was scheduled to meet with the gurdwara committee of the Glasgow Gurdwara on Albert Drive but was confronted by individuals who conveyed he was not welcome.

The activist said: "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."

"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. As of now, there is no official response from the Indian High Commission in London or the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) regarding the incident.

This incident comes amid increasing tensions in India-Canada relations following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations regarding India's involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India has rejected these claims as "absurd" and "motivated." Canada has yet to provide public evidence to support these allegations.

External Affairs Minister Jaishankar has raised concerns about threats, violence, and intimidation against Indian diplomats and missions in Canada. He emphasized that such a situation should not be normalized and questioned how other countries would react to a similar scenario."...Our point is that there is today a climate of violence, an atmosphere of intimidation...Just think about it. We have had smoke bombs thrown at the mission. We have had our consulates...violence in front of them. Individuals have been targeted and intimidated. There are posters put up about people", said S Jaishankar at a press conference in Washington DC on Friday as quoted by ANI.

The United Kingdom's Security Minister Tom Tugendhat recently announced increased funding to address 'pro-Khalistan extremism' and enhance the UK's capability to tackle this threat. This announcement followed a meeting with Jaishankar in August, where they discussed joint efforts to combat extremism through the Joint Extremism Task Force.

Complementing the join work underway between UK and India via Joint-Extremism Task Force, the British High Commission in its statement said that the 95,000-pound investment shall enhance the UK Government's knowledge of the threat posed by pro-Khalistan extremism.

(With Inputs from ANI)