Unlike the SGPC, the Glasgow Guru Granth Sahib Gurudwara has personally apologized to the Indian High Commissioner to UK Vikram Doraiswami.
Who was confronted by London-based Sikh extremists on Friday and prevented by them from entering the temple premises.
In a letter to the High Commissioner, the Glasgow gurdwara committee assured the High Commissioner that the three persons involved in the unsavoury incident were not part of their regular congregation and were unknown to the community gurudwara on Albert Road in Glasgow. The committee has requested the High Commissioner to visit the Gurudwara again and a public statement is expected to be released by them tomorrow.
Two of the three extremists who tried to accost the Indian High Commissioner have been identified as Shamsher Singh and Ranveer Singh, both based in London. Out of this Ranveer Singh was photographed at a shooting practice range with a rifle and also seen wearing a T-shirt demanding the release of Babbar Khalsa International terrorist Jagtar Singh Hawara, who was involved in the conspiracy to assassinate the 12th Chief Minister of Punjab, Beant Singh, on August 31, 1995. Dilawar Singh Babbar, a human bomb, assassinated Beant Siingh by blowing up his bulletproof car at the Punjab and Haryana Civil Secretariat at Chandigarh. Seventeen people lost their lives in the terror attack and another 15 were injured.
Indian High Commission Doraiswami, a 1992 batch IFS officer, went to the Glasgow Gurudwara at the invitation of the committee in August 2023 and the request was reiterated this month. Despite the increase in Sikh radical activity, Doraiswami has visited at least four Gurudwaras with the community most well-disposed to the Indian diplomat and his colleagues. High Commissioner Doraiswami met the Indian Muslim Association in Glasgow before reaching the Glasgow Gurudwara.
While the Scotland police and the British intelligence were informed well in advance about the visit of High Commissioner Doraiswami to the Glasgow Gurudwara, the incident took everyone by surprise with the local community not being able to push out the troublemakers. Already, the Scotland police are taking the statements of all involved including the local lady Sikh MP of the city and action will be taken against the extremists shortly.