Pak PM Imran Khan’s friend joins anti-India stir in London

One of Imran Khan's closest friends, Zulfi Bukhari, travelled from Pakistan to London especially to speak at the protest which blocked roads for five hours and left several PIOs injured

Apart from the three British Pakistani MPs, the event was also addressed by Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir-born born Lord Nazir Ahmed, who is currently on trial for child sex offence charges

LONDON: One of Pakistan PM Imran Khan’s closest friends was the big draw at violent protests in London on Thursday at which the High Commission of India building and the Indian diaspora were targeted and pelted with stones, bottles of frozen water, glass bottles, shoes and eggs.

The special assistant to Khan on overseas Pakistanis and human resource development, Zulfi Bukhari, travelled from Pakistan to London especially to speak at the protest which blocked roads for five hours and left the mission’s building damaged and several PIOs injured.

Three British Pakistani Labour MPs — Shabana Mahmood, Khalid Mahmood and Muhammad Yasin — as well as Labour MP Liam Byrne, former MP George Galloway, and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir-born Nazir Ahmed, who is on trial for child sex offence charges, were among those who spoke at the anti-India event.

Amid raging controversy over Pakistan PM Imran Khan’s close friend Zulfi Bukhari joining and speaking at protests in London on Thursday, an online flyer for the Anti-India event has the Pakistan Association Bristol logo on it and the names of two British Pakistani Labour councillors.

Apart from the three British Pakistani MPs — Shabana Mahmood, Khalid Mahmood and Muhammad Yasin — the event was also addressed by Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir-born born Lord Nazir Ahmed, who is currently on trial for child sex offence charges.

British Pakistanis were bussed in from all across Britain on coaches that one protester claimed had been paid for by Bukhari “from his own pocket”. From 11.30 am they swarmed the road outside the Indian high commission building carrying Kahsmiri, Pakistani and Union Jack flags and placards saying “Free Kashmir” and “implement UN resolution” and chanted anti-India slogans. They were joined by separatist Sikhs wearing “Referendum 2020” T-shirts and holding Khalistani flags. All the protesters TOI spoke to were British Pakistanis. They said they were there to protest against Article 370 being revoked and because “Indian Muslims are not safe in India”.

Just yards away a few hundred people from the Indian diaspora were gathered in India Place, next to India House, to mark India’s 73rd Independence Day by hoisting the flag, putting on cultural performances and singing the national anthem.

Within about an hour the protesters tried to push past police horses to reach those PIOs. The protesters then let off smoke bombs to agitate the horses and started pelting stones, glass and eggs at the high commission building and frozen bottles of water, shoes, batteries, cigarette lighters, eggs, tomatoes, glass bottles, apples and potatoes at the Indian diaspora.

At 1.30 pm the protesters started entering India Place from the other side, the Strand, which had not been blocked off. The police tried to hold them back but they had already reached within metres of the Indian diaspora who were then trapped in the middle of the bylane with no exit point. High commission officials were also trapped inside the mission. Standing round the statue of Nehru, the PIOs, dressed in their finest outfits, waved Indian flag as they had items thrown at them from all sides.

A flying bottle of water hit Pravin Patel, 73, and cut his forehead. “Firstly one of them grabbed my placard, which said ‘We welcome Modi as PM’, and then one of them threw a bottle straight at me which hit me in the head. This violence is unacceptable in the UK. I came here to celebrate. I have been hit with eggs twice.”

Children as young as four were among them. Terrified, several mothers called 999 from their mobiles. At around 3.30 pm riot police arrived who pushed the protesters back five metres to allow the diaspora to enter the high commission from a side door to take refuge.

Riot police got into a fight with a group of Khalistani Sikhs, one of whom was carrying a large kirpan, which the police grabbed off him. A Metropolitan police spokesperson confirmed the kirpan had been confiscated. The spokesperson said: “Sikhs are legally entitled to carry a kirpan for religious reasons and the Metropolitan police is sensitive to the significance of carrying this article. During the policing of the protest at the Indian high commission on Thursday, 15 August, a tactical decision was taken to remove a kirpan from a protester. The protester was arrested for being in possession of an offensive weapon and has since been released with no further action to be taken against him.”

Jay Shah, a member of Friends of India Society International, who was caught up in the mayhem, said: “Trump said law and order was failing in London and he has been proved right. I blame London mayor Sadiq Khan for this failure of law and order.”

The incident has sparked outrage on social media with many in India blaming the London mayor.