US condemns arson attack on Indian Consulate in San Francisco

The attack would have been perpetrated by alleged supporters of the Khalistan Sikh independence movement

July 4 (EUROPA PRESS) –

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller has condemned an arson attack on the Indian Consulate in San Francisco on Saturday by alleged supporters of the Khalistan Sikh independence movement.

“The United States strongly condemns the reported vandalism and attempted arson attack on the Indian Consulate in San Francisco on Saturday. Vandalism or violence against diplomatic facilities or foreign diplomats in the United States is a criminal offense,” Miller has published in his twitter account.

As published by Diya TV on Monday, “the fire was quickly put out by the San Francisco Department, the damage was limited and no staff member was injured. Local, state and federal authorities have been notified.” In addition, the chain has attached a video of the fire allegedly recorded by “Khalistan supporters.”

The separatist movement, which was largely suppressed in the mid-1990s, aims for Khalistan’s independence as a homeland for Sikhs in the territories of the former Sikh Empire with the Indian provinces of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Delhi and parts of Kashmir and Rajasthan.

Furthermore, he is still finding some support within India (where the authorities continue to persecute his supporters) and among the Sikh diaspora, especially in the UK, Canada and Australia.

In fact, the leader of the Khalistan Tiger Force, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, was shot dead by two young men in mid-June inside a Sikh temple compound in the Canadian city of Surrey, on the outskirts of Vancouver.

India had already requested Nijjar’s extradition from Canada in 2016, considering him the leader of a terrorist separatist group that aspired to independence.