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India High Commission, Aldwych, London, UK. 22nd October, 2015. Hundreds of British Sikhs clashed with police outside the India High Commission in central London in response to the desecration of their holy book in India. Police were forced to deploy riot tactic when demonstrators refused to move from the Aldwych road. Later in the stand off police horses were deployed to push the protesters onto the pavements. Many Sikhs, mostly young men, responded by what they thought were unnecessary heavy police tactics by shouting and pushing back officers. The near full scale riot was eventually taken under control by the police when barriers were set up on each side of Aldwych. When pages of the Guru Granth Sahib, Sikhism's central text, were found ripped up recently, demonstrations spread across the northern Indian state of Punjab. Police used water cannons, batons and live rounds to disperse the crowds, and at one protest last week police opened fire, leaving at least two dead and more than 50 injured, according to reports. In the UK Jagmeet Singh - representing a Sikh point of view and from the educational charity Basics of Sikhi - appeared on BBC One's Sunday Morning Live programme. After a studio debate about interfaith marriage, Singh went off-topic, stood up in front of the camera and interrupted presenter Sian Williams. Across the world, many others are using social media to compare the recent clashes with the anti-Sikh riots in 1984, during which nearly 3,000 Sikhs were killed. // Lee Thomas, Flat 47a Park East Building, Bow Quarter, London, E3 2UT. Tel. 07784142973. Email: leepthomas@gmail.com. www.leept.co.uk (0000635435)
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