Indian flag replaced with Khalistan flag at Indian High Commission in London

LONDON: Pro-Khalistan Sikh activists replaced the Indian flag with the Khalistan flag at London High Commission in a show of support for more than 11,000 Sikhs, some 8,000 miles away, taking part in the second phase of Khalistan Referendum voting in the Australian city of Brisbane.

The footage showed a group of around two dozen Sikh youth gathering outside the Indian High Commission in Central London raising Sikh religious slogans and calling for the creation of Khalistan.

One of the turbaned men starts scaling the high commission from the front of the building and makes it to the top balcony where the Indian flag is hoisted. Within 30 seconds, the Sikh man takes off the Indian Tiranga and replaces the Indian flag with the Khalistan flag. Meanwhile, the supporters on the ground take off the Indian flag completely as the Khalistan flag is raised.

Two Indian high commission staff appeared on the balcony from inside and the standoff continues for a few minutes before the Sikh man comes off the balcony. This is the first time that the Indian flag has been taken off the Indian High Commission building – as tensions between the Hindutva Indian authorities and Sikhs grow worldwide over complaints of worsening human rights violations of Sikhs in India.

The Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) General Counsel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said that the Indian flag had been replaced with the Khalistan flag at London High Commission to highlight the continuous occupation of Punjab by India and to send a message that the creation of a Sikh homeland is the only solution.

He said the Narendra Modi government’s crackdown on pro-Khalistan Sikh activists continues in Punjab. Pannun said: “In the last few days, hundreds of supporters of Khalistan Referendum along with their family members have been illegally detained and tortured in Punjab. Currently, there is a massive security crackdown going on in Punjab. There is a complete shutdown of the internet in Punjab and the government is involved in picking up those who are involved in the teachings of Sikhism.”

He added: “Since Operation Blue Star in 1984, the only goal of Sikhs is the creation of Khalistan. This is the only solution and Sikhs face repression from India just because of this. The Khalistan Referendum campaign globally is a step forward in the direction of having Khalistan Referendum in Punjab.”

The development at the Indian High Commission in London came as over 11,000 Sikhs voted for the Khalistan Referendum’s second phase in Australia.

Australian Sikhs have responded robustly to the Indian prime minister’s efforts to stop Khalistan Referendum voting in Australia at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre amid a massive wave of Indian cyber security mercenary attacks on the electronic voting machines.

The SFJ, the pro-Khalistan secessionist group — which organised the referendum voting — said it suspected that the Indian state-backed hackers were involved in the planned attack.

Today, March 19, the “Battlefield — Brisbane” Khalistan Referendum Voting Centre was dedicated to Shaheed Bhai Harmeet Singh Bhaowal and Shaheed Bibi Baljinder Kaur who were bombed to death along with their nine months old son, Pavittar Singh, on December 5, 1992, by the Indian police forces in Haryana.