India condemns ‘disgraceful incident’ after high commissioner denied entry to UK Gurudwara

India’s High Commission to the United Kingdom, on Saturday (Sep 30), said that it has raised the “disgraceful incident” at Glasgow Gurudwara to the authorities in the UK where elements from outside Scotland “deliberately disrupted” a planned interaction organised for the Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami.

“On September 29, 2023, three persons- all from areas outside Scotland-deliberately disrupted a planned interaction organised by the Gurudwara Committee for the community, the High Commissioner and the Consul General of India. This interaction was to discuss community and consular issues”, the High Commission of India, London said in a statement today.

It further said that it has reported “this disgraceful incident to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the Metropolitan Police.”

“The organizers included senior community leaders, ladies and Committee members, and a member of the Scottish Parliament. They were threatened and abused by these elements. In an effort to prevent any potential altercation, the HC and CG decided to leave the premises shortly upon their arrival,” read the statement.

The Indian Mission in London further highlighted that one of the non-local extremist elements tried to force open Doraiswami’s car door violently, which it said is a matter that will “require suitable police consideration.”

It then underlined that because one of the organisers was vigilant enough to quickly act and pacify the situation, “a bigger incident was avoided.”

“One of the non-local extremist elements attempted to violently force open the HC’s car door – a matter that will require suitable police consideration. It is due to the quick reaction of one of the organizers, who physically intervened at the car door, that a bigger incident was avoided,” the statement added.

Glasgow Gurdwara Guru Granth Sahib Sikh Sabha on Saturday released a statement saying, “An incident occurred on 29 September 2023 at Glasgow Gurdwara where the Indian High Commissioner was on a personal visit, facilitated by a member of Scottish Parliament. Certain unknown individuals from outside the Glasgow area attempted to disrupt this visit, following which the visiting party decided to leave the premises. After the departure of the visitors, these unruly individuals continued to disturb the Gurdwara congregation. Police Scotland was in attendance thereafter and have taken cognizance of the matter. Glasgow Gurdwara strongly condemns such disorderly behaviour to disrupt the peaceful proceedings of a Sikh place of worship. The Gurdwara is open to people from all communities and backgrounds, and we welcome everyone openly as per our principles of faith.”

Earlier on Saturday (Sep 30), government sources said that India had raised the issue with the United Kingdom foreign office and the police.

“Doraiswami was on Friday stopped by a few radicals from entering a gurdwara in Glasgow. The Indian High Commissioner decided to leave instead of getting into an argument,” the sources had said.

United Kingdom Minister of State for the Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan said that she was “concerned” to see how Doraiswami was stopped from meeting the Gurudwara Committee in Glasgow.

Trevelyan said, “Concerned to see that the Indian High Commissioner @VDoraiswami was stopped from meeting with the Gurudwara Committee at the Gurudwara in Glasgow. The safety and security of foreign diplomats is of utmost importance and our places of worship in the UK must be open to all.”

Scotland Police released a statement saying that it did respond to a report of a disturbance in the Albert Drive area of Glasgow around 1:05 pm GMT on Friday (Sep 29), further adding that a probe was ongoing into the matter.

“We were called around 1.05 pm on Friday, 29 September, to a report of a disturbance that happened in the Albert Drive area of Glasgow,” news agency ANI quoted a Scotland police spokesperson as saying.

The spokesperson added, “There were no reports of any injuries and enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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