A group of Khalistan supporters on Sunday morning set the Indian Consulate in San Francisco on fire. The San Francisco Fire Department quickly suppressed the fire and no major damages were reported. There are no reports of any staffer getting injured so far. Local, state and federal US authorities have been notified of the incident.
The video of the incident was shared by Diya TV, a local news channel on Tuesday morning.
Gold Rate
Monday 10 Feb. 2025
The US State Department on Monday “strongly condemned” the reported vandalism and arson at the Indian Consulate in San Francisco.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a tweet: “The US strongly condemns the reported vandalism and attempted arson against the Indian consulate in San Francisco on Saturday. Vandalism or violence against diplomatic facilities or foreign diplomats in the US is a criminal offence”.
This, however, is not the first time that the Khalistanis have attacked the Indian Consulate in San Francisco. In March this year, Khalistani supporters vandalised the consulate as Punjab Police launched a nationwide search operation against the pro-Khalistani preacher Amritpal Singh.
Videos of a huge crowd attacking the Indian consulate went viral. According to these videos, protestors shouting Khalistani slogans broke through security barriers to install pro-Khalistan banners inside the Consulate premises. They also tried to break the door and windows with iron rods.
Some protestors also spray-painted a huge graffiti that read “Free Amritpal” on the outer wall of the building. After this incident, India conveyed its protest in a meeting with the US Charge d’Affaires in Delhi.
India said in a statement that the US government was reminded of its basic obligation to protect and secure diplomatic facilities and was asked to take appropriate measures to prevent such instances in the future. The statement added: “Our Embassy in Washington DC also conveyed our concerns to the US State Department along similar lines”.
