“The US State Department’s diplomatic security service is working with local authorities. I can say that it is working with local authorities to properly investigate and the State Department is going to be working from an infrastructure perspective to repair the damage, but it’s unacceptable,” he said in response to a question.
New Delhi: The US has condemned the mob attack on India’s consulate in San Francisco and vowed to ensure the safety of premises and the security of its diplomats,a report in The Tribune, Chandigarh, says.
“That vandalism, it’s just absolutely unacceptable,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Monday, March 20.
“The US State Department’s diplomatic security service is working with local authorities. I can say that it is working with local authorities to properly investigate and the State Department is going to be working from an infrastructure perspective to repair the damage, but it’s unacceptable,” he said in response to a question.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also condemned the violence and in a tweet said, “We are committed to the safety and security of these facilities and the diplomats who work within them.”
The Indian grouse, however, has been that the local law enforcement agencies have taken no action so far related to the rioting in front of the consulate. In London, at least one person had been arrested so far, though that too is being seen as inadequate.
Several public figures have spoken up and demanded strict police action against pro-Khalistani activists. UK MP Bob Blackman said pro-Khalistani activists were “a very small, very small section of the Sikh community”.
An earlier report says a group of pro-Khalistan protesters on Sunday, March 19, tried to set India’s consulate in San Francisco on fire, a PTI report says.
It is believed two bearded men wearing a cap, who remain unidentified so far, poured flammable material at the entrance of the Indian mission in San Francisco and tried to burn the building. However, the fire did not spread for reasons not known.
The consulate in San Francisco immediately took up the matter with the city police and concerned authorities at multiple levels from San Francisco to Washington DC.
Around 11 hours later, in the absence of a strong law enforcement and city police presence, pro-Khalistan supporters broke the makeshift barricade, forced entry inside the premises of the Indian Consulate in San Francisco and hammered at the doors and windows, shattered the glass panes after their Khalistan flag was removed by the mission staffers.
In the process, one of the consulate employees sustained minor injuries.
On Monday, the Khalistani protestors pitched a tent outside the San Francisco consulate. Several people who came to the consulate for passport or visa services were harassed by the protestors and in some cases even obstructed from entering the premises.
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