LONDON: The Covid issue is as big as the rally in support of the farmers’ upheaval in India turned out in London on Sunday. Several thousand protesters turned up, in hundreds of cars jamming the streets of central London, and the ears of Londoners, circling the High Commission of India all day.
It was a much larger turnout than expected, it had clearly been said that the UK should do more than the protesters had done so far in Canada and the US, not less by any means. It seemed to have worked.
Convoys of cars came to London from Birmingham and Derby in the Midlands and from other cities across the country. They carried banners in support of the farmers’ agitation and waved triangular yellow flags, the characteristic color of an energetic Sikh protest.
Several of the flags declared themselves Khalistani. Like many of the chants and slogans in front of the high commission and at a side meeting in Trafalgar Square.
The groups that marched along the beach between one protest meeting and the next spoke out for Khalistan more than for Indian farmers. This was not just their rally, but rather a prominence of presence backed by the power of the lungs seemed all theirs. The well-known Khalistan champion, Paramjit Singh Pamma, stood out from the crowd among a group of supporters wearing BabbarKhalsa jerseys.
No doubt many others attended simply to speak out in support of farmers, carrying signs such as ‘No farmers, no food’. But they were relatively few and sounded even less.
At the peak of power, some protesters led by Sikh groups tried to break through an established barrier to keep them at a distance from the high commission building. That led to an agitated crowd at the very gates of India House, still on display, looked inappropriately in the day, festive lights at the entrance. A couple of guys made a move to get into the high commission, but they were taken away by the police. It took some time and some police reinforcements to send the rest back to where they should have been.
As expected, the noise levels were high. Slogans, a cocktail of megaphone speeches and, above all, constant honking made this by far the loudest Sunday London had seen in a while. Honking the horn is a fairly standard form of protest in the UK; it usually comes from the occasional sympathetic driver who passes some lagging protesters. No, like in this demo, about a thousand cars honking on top of each other, around the same place most of the day.
The cars were diverted a bit later in the afternoon to a wider circuit to blur noise and ease traffic. That just spread the honks throughout the city. Police were still fighting to let traffic, mostly protesters’ cars, pass the roads outside India House. Away from such traffic it was a struggle just walking through that dense crowd of protesters that made all the coronavirus
supposedly current rules.
Covid-19 rules
Police had issued a warning before the rally against any large gathering. London’s Metropolitan Police reminded community leaders in an open letter on December 4: “As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK, additional legislation has been passed restricting the right of assembly, including protests and marches. “Police gave people” strong advice “not to attend any large gatherings. Instead, they recommended a petition within or an online forum to register any protests.
An offense would amount to a crime, the police statement added. Potential protesters were reminded that currently no gathering of more than six people is allowed outdoors. Six people? A few thousand Sikhs made Britain’s laws look very strange this Sunday afternoon.
The police letter said it would be a crime to even encourage people to participate in such an illegal protest. “Police officers will take appropriate enforcement action when necessary.” As it turned out, the police did not find it necessary to take action when the rule of six was violated by a few thousand. The police appear not to have read the letter they wrote. Or they just took Sunday off for the most part.
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