For the second time in less than three months, Khalistani separatist groups targeted the Indian consulate in San Francisco. In March, Khalistani activists planted flags at the consulate, broke through barricades, used flagpoles to attack the consulate, smashed windows and damaged doors. This time, two men attacked and sought to burn down the building, painting pro-Khalistan graffiti on the walls and using fuel cans to spray inflammable liquid inside the diplomatic premises before setting it alight. Though no material damage was caused, the incident represented an unacceptable breach of security and a dangerous escalation of extremist tendencies of Khalistani groups that calls for a commensurate response from local American authorities.
For some time now, it has been clear that Khalistani groups — getting squeezed out of political space in Punjab and battling diminishing popularity — are looking to ratchet up tensions outside the country to garner attention. That this has happened with barely a ripple in the villages of Punjab — once the epicentre of the struggle against State brutality and demands for a separate homeland — should offer enough proof of the negligible traction such groups have among demographics they claim to represent. Rallies in Canada celebrating the assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi or vandalism at Indian missions in the United Kingdom (UK) are part of the same pattern. New Delhi has been rightly mounting pressure on these countries to institute criminal proceedings against the perpetrators of these attacks. India is clear that it wants to see action, not just sympathy, the arrests of those involved in recent incidents, and pre-emptive measures by local authorities to stop any such future attacks.
Signals by Khalistani groups — they posted a video titled Violence Begets Violence — indicate that they are unlikely to desert this provocative course of action unless strongly prevailed upon. The local authorities in the US , and wherever else such attacks have happened, need to take strong punitive and preventive action to deter any such adventurism. While there should always be space for peaceful dissent and discussion in a democracy, there should be no tolerance of violence and incendiary tactics. India should leverage its improved diplomatic relations to press upon the American authorities the importance of strong action in such cases, and in countries where permissible, make claims for compensation for the attacks and the damage caused to the Indian missions.
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