In the wake of the Amritpal Singh hunt in Punjab, pro-Khalistan protesters defaced the wall of the Indian consulate in San Francisco, planted flags inside the premises, and then broke through security barricades to smash the windows of the consulate. California is home to a substantial Sikh-American diaspora, with elements of the community active in the Khalistan movement. But the violence they have resorted to in the United States (US) marks an overreach that is likely to come back to hurt the pro-Khalistan groups for three reasons.
One, the attack prompted a tweet by Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser. It is rare for the President’s top security aide to involve himself in a domestic case of vandalism, but Mr Sullivan’s intervention is a testament to how seriously the White House has taken this attack and sends a signal to the domestic security apparatus that all steps must be taken to prevent its recurrence. Two, after the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, the administration has very little sympathy for mob violence. And finally, unlike in the United Kingdom and Canada, where Sikh groups play a large role in domestic politics, pro-Khalistani elements have little national political traction in Washington today even if they have local pockets of influence.
These groups may continue to make a noise, but their narrative of discrimination rings hollow among informed segments in the US aware that Indian democracy and federalism have taken into account Sikh aspirations. And the turn to violence punctures any moral high ground Khalistani groups may have hoped to claim within the US polity. The American security apparatus failed in San Francisco, but will hopefully show zero tolerance in the future.
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