NEW DELHI, 4 Jul: The Congress on Tuesday condemned the attack by Khalistan supporters on the Indian consulate in San Francisco and called on the Centre to work with host governments to take necessary steps to protect India’s diplomatic missions and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice.
Khalistan supporters tried to set India’s consulate in San Francisco on fire – the second such incident within months – drawing strong condemnation from the US government, which termed it a “criminal offence.”
A video of the incident by Khalistani supporters dated 2 July was posted on Twitter.
In a statement, the Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said, “The Indian National Congress condemns the attack and attempted arson on the Indian consulate building in San Francisco, reportedly by supporters of Khalistan.”
“We note with deep concern that this is the latest in a series of threats and attacks on Indian diplomatic missions following an attack in the UK, threats of violence in Canada, and an earlier attack on the consulate in San Francisco in March this year,” he said.
In view of the serious and continuing threat, the Congress calls on the government of India to work with host governments to take all steps necessary to protect Indian diplomatic missions and personnel, and ensure that the perpetrators of such attacks are brought to justice, Khera said.
Asked about the incident at a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said, “We absolutely denounce any action like that.”
“We denounce it as we have been at the receiving end of what terrorism has done in this country. We have been at the receiving end of extremist forces, which is why we believe that there is no place for violence and no place for extremism,” she said.
“We have lost one former prime minister and one PM was assassinated in office by these extremist forces. Which is why when people like these obstruct Rahul Gandhi’s meetings overseas, we expect the Indian government to take it up with the Biden administration and instead they chose to stand with the extremists,” she alleged.
BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa also condemned the incident.
“I strongly condemn the attack on India’s consulate in San Francisco by Khalistan supporters who tried to set the diplomatic facility on fire. They are the enemies of India and the Sikhs. I appeal to the Sikhs living abroad to identify such people and strict action must be taken against them,” he said.
Civil society group Indian World Forum also condemned attempts by “anti-India forces,” including Khalistani activists, to target the country’s diplomatic missions and diaspora community abroad.
The video of the incident posted on Twitter, with the words “violence begets violence” emblazoned over it, also showed news articles related to the death of Canada-based Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Nijjar, one of India’s most wanted terrorists, who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakhs on his head, was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Canada last month. (PTI)
