Glasgow Gurdwara Incident: Sikh Body SGPC Leader Explains Away Blocking Indian Envoy, Asks 'Indian Embassy To Avoid Tensions'

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) responded to the incident — termed "disgraceful" by India — involving the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, being stopped from entering the Glasgow gurdwara by pro-Khalistan activists on Friday (29 September).

SGPC general secretary Gurcharan Singh Grewal expressed to news agency ANI that the people of England are upset about the "illegal arrest of Jaggi Johal."

"People of England, they are upset with the illegal arrest of Jaggi Johal. That is the reason all of this is happening… We want to ask the Indian Embassy that any kind of tension should not be created… If something like this has happened with an ambassador in a gurdwara, it affects the reputation of Sikhs…," he said.

"Earlier, an ambassador was beaten, we don't support it... The reputation of Sikhs is affected all over the world... There is no restriction on entering any gurdwara. But I don't know what their reasons were. To avoid any tensions created because of his (Vikram Doraiswami) visit, they must have stopped him...," Grewal added.

Unlike the SGPC, the Glasgow Guru Granth Sahib Gurdwara apologised to Doraiswami for the unsavoury incident.

They also strongly condemned the "disorderly behaviour to disrupt the peaceful proceedings of a Sikh place of worship."

In a letter, the Glasgow gurdwara committee assured the High Commissioner that the individuals involved in the incident were not regular members of their congregation and were unknown to the community gurdwara in Glasgow.

The committee has requested Doraiswami, a 1992 batch IFS officer, to visit the gurdwara again.

Two of the extremists who confronted the Indian High Commissioner have been identified as Shamsher Singh and Ranveer Singh, both based in London.

Ranveer Singh was photographed at a shooting practice range with a rifle and seen wearing a T-shirt demanding the release of Babbar Khalsa International terrorist Jagtar Singh Hawara, who was involved in the conspiracy to assassinate the twelfth chief minister of Punjab, Beant Singh, in 1995.

The assassination, carried out by Dilawar Singh Babbar, resulted in the death of 17 people and injuries to 15 others.