A protest march by thousands of British Pakistani participants turned violent in London on Tuesday after demonstrators smashed windows of the Indian High Commission and proceeded to create a public disturbance, making it the second such incident in the UK capital since August.
The march, organised by local Kashmiri organisations, called supporters to come to London and protest against the Indian government's decision to abrogate the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of its constitution and to bifurcate the state two union territories- J&K and Ladakh.
The protest march, that began from Parliament Square, past Downing Street to the High Commission building turned violent after protesters carrying Kashmiri flags, reportedly shouted "Terrorist terrorist, Modi is a terrorist!", "We want freedom" and "We will take by force — freedom!." The protesters proceeded to hurl eggs, shoes, stones, tomatoes and bottles at the building.
The Indian envoy tweeted an image of a damaged window. Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan condemned the "unacceptable behaviour" and stated that the incident will be investigated by the Metropolitan Police.
I utterly condemn this unacceptable behaviour and have raised this incident with @metpoliceuk to take action.
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) September 3, 2019
The UK police said they arrested two people for criminal damage, according to the Times of India.
The incident was the second such violent protests by pro-Pakistan supporters after several Indian and people of Indian origin were attacked during Independence Day celebrations in London on August 15.
Similar to the recent incident, the Indian High Commission building was attacked with eggs, glass bottles, shoes, etc by British Pakistani, Pakistani Kashmiri and Pro-Khalistan Sikhs in the large-scale anti-India protests.
Four people were then reportedly arrested under Section 4 of the Public Order Act, for affray, obstruction of police and possession of an offensive weapon.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his counterpart Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Biarritz, France last month. The attacks outside the Indian envoy in London was raised and the British PM had expressed his regret about the incident and assured the safety of the Indian mission. Johnson also echoed India's stance on the disputed region and said that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan.
