TOI Correspondent from London: The Metropolitan Police right here is investigating a macabre throat-slitting gesture made on Friday evening by Colonel Taimur, military and air adviser on the Pakistan excessive fee in London, which was directed in direction of Indian-origin protesters indignant in regards to the Pahalgam terror assault.
The Indian diaspora had gone to the Pakistan excessive fee to protest in opposition to who they consider are the perpetrators of the April 22 terror assault. Armed with placards saying “I’m Hindu”, they had been shocked to search out the excessive fee had organised a counter protest and plugged in an enormous loudspeaker to blast out songs to drown out their chants.
Col Taimur stood on the balcony of the mission constructing, draped with posters claiming human rights violations in J&Okay, waving a placard of Abhinandan Varthaman with the caption “the chai is improbable” as he smiled and drew his finger throughout his throat and directed the gesture, pointedly, on the Indian facet. The video has gone viral.
A Met Police spokesperson mentioned: “We’re conscious of this video and at the moment are investigating. Officers are additionally in contact with the related govt division to find out what representations must be made to the excessive fee.”
As Pakistani songs blasted out, the Pakistani protesters danced and shouted obscenities on the Indian protesters, abusing Hindu gods and PM Narendra Modi, holding placards accusing India of “water terrorism”.
That they had a mic, the Indians didn’t. There have been simply yards between the 2 teams, with police in between, as they hurled abuse at one another.
“There isn’t a empathy or disgrace within the Pakistanis. They’re partying over a terror assault,” mentioned Amaana Begum (38), an Indian Muslim from Jaipur.
“We got here right here to mourn the lack of life and right here they’re blasting out music and making gestures, and we simply wished to peacefully protest,” mentioned Nandini Singh. “It’s as if they’re celebrating the lack of life.”
When TOI confronted the Pakistani protesters, a person named Wahim alleged: “Pahalgam is a false-flag operation. It’s a political act by India, nothing else.”
Police swarmed round a bunch of younger Indian-origin supply drivers protesting. All of a sudden, a Gujarati man sprinted off and round 15 law enforcement officials chased him down the road. He regarded petrified as instructed he was below arrest for racially abusing a police officer. Subsequent an officer grabbed a second younger PIO supply driver by the scruff of his neck and pulled him into the highway and he too was handcuffed. Pakistani media videographed each second. Subsequent, vans of police educated to deal with public dysfunction turned up and all of the Indian protesters had been instructed to depart.
One man was arrested on suspicion of affray and a racially aggravated public order offence. He was later launched with out additional motion, a Met Police spokesperson mentioned. The opposite man was handcuffed, detained, and launched, however not arrested.
Indian protesters mentioned their complaints to police in regards to the different facet fell on deaf ears. “The police had been a lot stricter on us and allowed the opposite facet to do what they wished,” one mentioned. “The lads who had been handcuffed had been provoked by what the Pakistanis had been saying.”