Members of the Indian diaspora in the U.K. and others have sought action from the British government over an incident on Parliament Square when the Indian flag was taken down and ripped, and an Indian journalist intimidated, at a pro-Khalistan protest.
Over 21,700 have signed a petition demanding “action against the culprits who brought down Indian flag and torn under 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, who has filed a police complaint after being 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 is going to do about it,” says Virendra Sharma, the Labour MP for Ealing Southall, who is hosting the meeting following requests from members of the local community.
“I will be stressing that 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.
Legal action
Another group is planning to take the petition — started by the Friends of India Society International U.K. (which took part in a rally supporting Mr. Modi’s visit to the U.K. last month) — to Downing Street on Monday, calling for action. One Indian Supreme Court lawyer, E.V. 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 U.K.-based Khalistan campaigners more generally .
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. Ms. 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.
