Following a “breach of security” at its High Commission in London, which has heightened tension between the two nations, India on Wednesday requested that Britain increase monitoring of UK-based supporters of the Khalistan movement, a Sikh separatist movement.
The Indian side “specifically conveyed its concerns on the misuse of UK’s asylum status by the Pro-Khalistani elements to aid and abet terrorist activities in India and requested better cooperation with UK,” according to a statement from the Indian government, at a meeting between senior British and Indian home ministry officials in New Delhi.
In retaliation for recent police actions in India’s Punjab state against a Sikh separatist leader, demonstrators waving “Khalistan” banners removed the Indian flag from the diplomatic mission’s headquarters last month, upsetting New Delhi. The event occurs while negotiators from the two nations strive to reach an agreement on a postponed free trade pact.
In several locations in the United States and Canada, similar demonstrations and vandalism were witnessed in front of Indian missions. Separatists seek an independent Sikh state called Khalistan, although it does not exist.
Amritpal Singh, the leader of the separatist movement, rekindled talk of an independent country, prompting police in Punjab, where Sikhs are the majority, to begin looking for him last month.
His remarks sparked worries about a resurgence of the separatist violence that killed tens of thousands of people in the 1980s and the early 1990s.
Supporters of Khalistan say that Singh’s punishment was unjustified.
Following “unacceptable acts of violence” against its workers, Britain’s Foreign Minister, James Cleverly, announced last month that the country will examine security at the Indian High Commission in London.
The central state’s persistent meddling in local matters was one of the most significant causes of the Khalistan movement. The Indian army’s invasion of the Golden Temple in 1984 enraged the Sikh community there and abroad and continues to be a simmering source of tension today.
