New Delhi (India)

Former High Commissioner of India to the U.K., Ruchi Ghanashyam has condemned the incident where the country’s current envoy Vikram Doraiswami was prevented from entering a gurdwara in Scotland reportedly by radical Sikh elements.

 

“I would like to express our solidarity with our High Commissioner. This should not have happened and the dignity and respect for the High Commissioner should have been maintained,” Ghanashyam said.

 

Meanwhile, India has taken up with authorities in London the incident in which Doraiswami was stopped from entering the gurudwara on Albert Drive in Glasgow, according to government sources.

 

Ghanashyam said, “I believe that the authorities in Scotland should have provided due security to him (Doraiswami) for the visit. From the reports that I have read it appears that it was a group of disgruntled people, misguided people. The Gurdwara committee seems to have invited the High Commissioner and some ruffians apparently came there and disturbed the event.”

 

The former envoy said that Doraiswami should not be deterred and should continue making efforts because “my own experience from the UK is that the bulk of the Sikh community in the U.K. is law-abiding people, hard, working people, highly respected. They want to have good relations with everyone. They are patriotic to India as well as well as to the home country of the U.K.. So, just a few people who can create trouble should not become a cause for us to get discouraged.”

 

In a purported video of the incident posted on its Instagram video by ‘Sikh Youth UK’ a protestor is heard saying, "They are hurting Sikhs in Canada and other places, every Sikh should protest against any Indian Ambassador like we did here in Glasgow.”

 

The ‘Sikh Youth UK’ claimed there is an ongoing ban on Indian officials visiting the gurdwara in their official capacities.

 

The video shows two men near the High Commissioner’s car in the parking area. One of them is seen attempting to open the car door, which has been locked from the inside. The purported video then shows the high commissioner’s car reversing and leaving the gurdwara premises. The video then shows another man speaking to the camera that this is how any Indian ambassador or any Indian government official who visits the gurdwara will be treated.

 

“We know what games they are playing, what’s happening in Canada. The Canadian PM has openly condemned India and expelled Indian diplomats,” he said.

 

The former envoy Ghanashyam said: “It appears that just a few people created this trouble and on the whole, by and large people in the UK are very friendly towards India and there is a very good opinion about India.”

 

She further said: “It is a matter of concern of course because the dignity of the High Commissioner has been impacted and when that happens it is the dignity of India that is impacted. So it should not have been allowed.”

 

The incident comes amid a diplomatic row between India and Canada over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

 

Ghanashyam said: “In Canada, a lot of things have been happening over a period of time. I mean, I have never come across in my entire life any country where the pictures of our diplomats have been put out on posters. That itself undermines the security of the diplomats.”

 

She said: “As per diplomatic practice, it is the responsibility of the host government to provide safety and security. And they have to ensure that a mission and its diplomats and officials can carry on their functioning without such threats.”