India lodges protest with US over attack on San Francisco consulate

India on Monday, March 20, lodged a strong protest with the US on the attack on its Consulate General in San Francisco. Summoning the US Charge d'Affaires in India, a protest against the vandalisation of property was conveyed by the MEA (Ministry of External Affairs). "The US government was reminded of its basic obligation to protect and secure diplomatic representation. It was asked to take appropriate measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents," the MEA said in a statement.

The MEA said that the Embassy in Washington DC also conveyed concerns to the US State Department along similar lines. After the London incident where the tricolour was removed from the Indian High Commission building, videos of a mob attacking the Indian consulate in California city surfaced. As per reports, with loud music playing in the background, a large mob was seen in the video, attacking the Indian consulate, spray-painting a huge graffiti on its outer wall, saying "Free Amritpal". According to reports, several videos, apparently filmed by the miscreants themselves, showed men breaking glass doors and windows of the consulate building with butts of Khalistani flags.

Employees of the consulate were later seen removing the flags in the videos when suddenly a mob broke through a barricade from behind which they were shouting slogans. The employees can be seen running inside the building with the protestors trying to follow them. Videos further showed that after the doors of the consulate were slammed shut in their faces, the protestors started hitting them with flags, while one of them smashed the windows of the building with a sword.