The Honorary Consulate of India located on Swann Road in the Taringa suburb of Brisbane was forced to close down after Khalistan supporters blockaded the entry.
Queensland Police says it was an unauthorised gathering, however, they were allowed to be consulate property and block anyone from entering it.
Parvinder Singh is a resident of regional Queensland. He took leave from his work to attend an appointment at Indian Consulate, in Brisbane.
However, Mr Singh is left with no choice but to go back and reschedule his appointment to get his young child’s Overseas Citizen of Indian card issues sorted because of the Khalistan menace in Brisbane.
Mr Singh told The Australia Today, “These thugs should not be allowed to dictate how we live our life in Australia.”
“They are threatening us when we visit Gurughar (Gurudwara) now these Khalistan supporters are entering into our daily life for worse.”
“Queensland government and police need to deal with the full force of the law as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said a few days back,” added Mr Singh.
Australia won’t tolerate any extreme actions and attacks that took place in religious buildings, and there is no place for such action against Hindu temples, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said while addressing a press conference in New Delhi on 11th March.
“And we will take every action through our police and also our security agencies to make sure that anyone responsible for this faces the full force of the law.
We’re a tolerant multicultural nation, and there is no place in Australia for this activity,”
said PM Albanese
Sarah L Gates is the Director of Hindu Human Rights based in Brisbane.
Ms Gates told The Australia Today, “Indian Consulate was forced to close today due to safety concerns after Sikhs for Justice targeted them with their propaganda.”
“Slogans were raised against Hindus calling them supremacists with Khalistan Zindabad. The occupation of the Consulate follows SFJ shutting down some train lines in India.”
said Ms Gates.
The presence of the Brisbane Sikh Temple bus accommodating the protesters was very concerning.
Local residents living across the road from Indian consulates shared their concern with The Australia Today at the loud aggressive slogans.
One witness said,
“These are not the peaceful Indian people the neighbourhood is familiar with”.
Hindu Human Rights’ Ms Gates was on the scene to witness the event.
She said
“A strong police presence spoke to the attitude of authorities that we will not have a repeat of what happened in Melbourne”.
However, Police and Political authorities had a meeting with Indian Australian leaders last night to assure the community that a team working in the background is committed to upholding law and order.
Community safety was a priority and they stressed their reliance on community leaders to pass on the information provided to them on democratic protests, reporting and lists of actions to report their concerns.
Honorary Consul of India in Brisbane Mrs Archana Singh found the Khalistan flag attached to the office when she arrived on 22nd February.
Mrs Singh immediately notified the Queensland Police, which on arrival confiscated the flag and swept the Honorary Consulate of India to clear of any immediate threat.
Honorary Consul Archana Singh told The Australia Today, “Police is surveilling the area to keep us safe. We have Strong faith in police authority.”