E-Paper
India flays Burhan Wani protest outside India House in London
The Indian high commission on Wednesday described as “mockery” a protest outside India House organised by some anti-India groups to mark the death anniversary of Burhan Wani of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen, who was killed in Jammu and Kashmir on July 8, 2016.
The Indian high commission on Wednesday described as “mockery” a protest outside India House organised by some anti-India groups to mark the death anniversary of Burhan Wani of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen, who was killed in Jammu and Kashmir on July 8, 2016.
“Celebrating a terrorist commander’s death anniversary is a mockery, which exposes those who believe in propagating a selective version of human rights”, a statement from the mission said, adding that the protest included a “very small gathering” that was peaceful.
“The security cooperation provided by the Metropolitan Police, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Home Office is much appreciated by the High Commission of India”, the statement added.
Scotland Yard officials set up a buffer zone between India House and protestors. The protest was reportedly organised by groups such as Overseas Pakistan Welfare Council, Global Pakistan and Kashmir Supreme.
The area in The Strand in central London had witnessed major protests and violence on the Kashmir issue on August 15 and September 3 last year, when several people were injured and projectiles hurled at the building as the police struggled to deal with the situation.
According to the high commission, the protest was “essentially organised to glorify the death of slain terrorist Burhan Wani”, noting that Hizbul Mujahideen is proscribed by the European Union, besides India.
The mission said: “Before he was killed during a counter insurgency operation on July 2016, Burhan Wani and his group carried out multiple attacks in J & K, causing deaths of security personnel and civilians”.
“During 2017-18, he was single-handedly responsible for recruitment of innocent Kashmiri youth into Jihadi campaign through religious bigotry and hate. Some of them such as Adil Khandey, Asad dam Padder, Riaz Naikoo became well known terror operatives, who carried out suicide attacks and killed innocent civilians and security personnel,” it added.
