- Wednesday, April 23, 2025
The protesters took out posters threatening Indian high commissioner in Australia Manpreet Vohra and the Indian consul general in Melbourne, Dr Sushil Kumar.
By: Shubham Ghosh
KHALISTAN supporters on Saturday (8) gathered in front of the Indian consulate general in Melbourne, Australia, as part of their worldwide protest against the murder of Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada’s Surrey in June.
The protesters took out posters threatening Indian high commissioner in Australia Manpreet Vohra and the Indian consul general in Melbourne, Dr Sushil Kumar, as they did in countries such as Canada and the UK.
The Australia Today reported that its Indian-origin editor Jai Bharadwaj was manhandled and threatened by Khalistan supporters while he was covering the protest. He called the police to intervene. The Australia Today has also been allegedly targeted in the past by Khalistan supporters and it said that Australian police were looking into the cases.
The news publication said the protesters’ turnout at the site was “abysmal” and called the protest show a “flop” one.
Posters proclaiming ‘Kill India’ with an illustration showing a pen piercing a rifle and featuring photographs of India’s top diplomats posted in various western democracies and accusing them as killers of Nijjar were widely circulated and posted, prompting strong reaction from India.
Nijjar was shot dead in the parking lot of a gurdwara in Surrey on June 18 by identified gunmen.
Renowned Canadian journalist Terry Milewski, who slammed the posters that surfaced in Canada accusing the Indian diplomats, tweeted: “Khalistanis plan worldwide rallies tomorrow in a bonkers bid to brand Indian diplomats as murderers. How bonkers? Well, India’s top diplomats in Australia are among the alleged “KILLERS” of “Shaheed” Hardeep Nijjar, shot June 18 in BC. Hey, it’s only 13,000 km away…and they’d have 6 other Indian diplomats to help them, all supposedly trecking across the globe to kill Nijjar, from S Francisco, Birmingham, Ottawa…There’s no rest for The Deadly Diplomats!”
Khalistanis plan worldwide rallies tomorrow in a bonkers bid to brand Indian diplomats as murderers. How bonkers? Well, India's top diplomats in Australia are among the alleged "KILLERS" of "Shaheed" Hardeep Nijjar, shot June 18 in BC. Hey, it's only 13,000 km away…
1/7 pic.twitter.com/7SS4sHQmMY— Terry Milewski (@CBCTerry) July 7, 2023
… and they'd have 6 other Indian diplomats to help them, all supposedly trecking across the globe to kill Nijjar, from S Francisco, Birmingham, Ottawa…There's no rest for The Deadly Diplomats! But of course, this is all @Khalunacy. So what are the Khalistanis up to? 2/7
— Terry Milewski (@CBCTerry) July 7, 2023
The Australia Today reported that the Indian consulate general in Melbourne held two separate briefings with the country’s department of foreign affairs and trade and Australian Federal Police officials over the matter.
Indian external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar earlier this week warned India’s “partner countries” against giving space to the Khalistan terrorists and said it could hit bilateral ties.
India’s national security advisor Ajit Doval on Friday (7) talked tough with his British counterpart Tim Barrow over the Khalistan protests in London and asked him to take strong action, even seeking deportation of the extremist elements, after threats were issued to two top Indian diplomats in the UK.
“Indian Authorities are taking this very seriously and are in touch with relevant Australian officials,” an Indian official told The Australia Today on the condition of anonymity.
