In the latest incident of an attack against the Indian diaspora, Khalistan supporters attacked the Consulate of India in Brisbane and raised their flag at the office. The incident reportedly happened on February 21 in Queensland, Australia.
Within days of the Indian foreign minister’s high-profile visit to Australia, a video is goes viral on social media with the “Khalistan” Flag raised at Indian Consulate in Brisbane.#KhalistanReferendum #Khalistan pic.twitter.com/bj01EtY1LK
— World Times (@WorldTimesWT) February 23, 2023
When Archana Singh, the Consul of India in Brisbane, arrived on February 22, she discovered the Khalistan flag hoisted at her office. She quickly alerted Queensland Police, who took the flag down and inspected the Consulate to ensure that there was no immediate threat.
“Police are surveilling the area to keep us safe. We have strong faith in the police authority,” Archana Singh was quoted as saying by Australia Today.
“The whole Indian Australian community is working together so that what happened in Melbourne is not repeated,” she added.
Editor of Australia Today, J Bhardwaj told news agency ANI that so far, there were attacks on Indian Australians, but now, they (Khalistan supporters) are targeting institutions belonging to the Indian government, and the attack on the Indian Consulate in Brisbane is a direct attack on the Government of India.
Till now, there were attacks on Indian Australians. But now, target is institutions belonging to Indian govt. This is a direct attack on Government of India when the Indian Consulate in Brisbane is attacked (by Khalistani elements): J Bhardwaj, Editor, The Australia Today pic.twitter.com/XwAzosd2HD
— ANI (@ANI) February 24, 2023
The attack on the Consulate comes just days after India asked Australia to rein in Khalistani separatists who have been targeting Hindu temples throughout the world.
On February 18, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his deputy, V Muraleedharan, visited Sydney and Melbourne. During this visit, and discussion, Jaishankar expressed India’s concerns over the series of attacks on Hindu temples to his counterpart Penny Wong and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Pro-Khalistanis attacked Indians protesting against the so-called Referendum 2020 in Melbourne
On January 29, several videos appeared on social media showing Indian Australians being attacked by Khalistanis with swords, while carrying the Indian tricolour. Notably, the Khalistani terrorist outfit ‘Sikhs For Justice’, which has been banned by the Indian government, had announced that a referendum on Khalistan will take place on January 29 at Federation Square. On the same day, Indian Australians also organized a protest at the same venue against rising pro-Khalistan activities and attacks on Hindi temples in the country.
This led to a clash between the two groups, and some Khalistanis attacked the Indians. Australian Hindu Media informed that the police arrested a sword-yielding Khalistani at Federation Square during the event.
Taking to Twitter, Sarah L Gates, Director of Hindu Human Rights Australasia shared the video of a group of Khalistan supporters chasing an Indian youth who was carrying the Indian national flag.
Prior to this, three separate anti-Hindu attacks on temples have taken place in Australia in less than a month, all of which were organized by locals who support the Khalistani propaganda.
Australian Hindus hand over demands to home minister
Owing to the rise in attacks on the Indian diaspora by pro-Khalistani elements with terror links, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs on February 2, strongly condemned the attack on the Indian community by the extremist Khalistani groups in Melbourne, Australia, and urged the local authorities to launch an investigation into the case and punish the perpetrators.
The Australian Hindus, on February 5 (local time), presented a list of demands to the Home Affairs Minister Clare O’ Neil who visited a Durga Temple in Melbourne ahead of the resumption of the Parliament.
