Days after Khalistan flags were found at the gates of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly sparked controversy, the Congress party held a protest in Dharamshala against the separatist group.

Congress workers took to the streets to raise slogans and burn the effigy of Gurpatwant Pannu, the chief of banned secessionist group ‘Sikhs for Justice.’

On Sunday, Khalistan flags were found tied to the Assembly gate and inscribed on walls with an intent to provoke terror in the hilly state that goes to elections later this year.

The incident triggered a security scare in the state, with the police sealing all interstate borders and looking for “probable hideouts” of the miscreants.

Condemning the incident Congress leader Natasha Katoch demanded strict action against divisive forces.

“Our entire Congress Dharamshala team is here to protest the planting of Khalistani flags at the Assembly gate. The incident is condemnable. Is the government sleeping? How could SFJ supporters plant flags at a high-security building? The state should take strict action against the guilty. With communal clashes already taking place, more such incidents would divide the nation,” she said.”

An FIR has been under sections 153-A, 153-B IPC, and section 3 of HP Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, 1985 concerning the incident. Also, Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) has been added to the FIR. Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, General Counsel to SFJ has been identified as the main accused in the case.

SFJ releases video of flag mishap

Notably, earlier in March, Pannu called for hoisting the Khalistani flag in Shimla. In response, the Anti-Terrorist Front of India burnt the Khalistani flag outside the deputy commissioner’s office in Shimla and raised slogans against the demands of SFJ.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by CAMLIVETV )