A group of Sikh protestors sporting “Punjab Referendum 2020” T-shirts and chanting Khalistan slogans were evicted from the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester on Tuesday during the first World Cup semi-final between India and New Zealand.
The fans were apparently Khalistan Supporters who wore T-shirts and held banners demanding a referendum on an independent Punjab homeland to be carved out of India.
“Ground security went into the stands and got the fans out of the stadium without much resistance and handed them over to the police,” a policeman at the ground told AFP on condition on anonymity.
Four fans, who were wearing t-shirts that read, ‘Punjab referendum 2020‘, were evicted by the police.
“We were asked to remove Referendum 2020 T-shirts and banners by officials, which we refused to take down as Khalistan is a political opinion,” said Paramjeet Singh Pamma, from the Sikhs for Justice.
Dalpreet Singh, who is based in Birmingham, told mid-day: “We are being evicted from the stadium. We were only wearing this t-shirt. We were not chanting anything. But yes, we wanted to demonstrate and express our feelings and that is why we wore this t-shirt. It is our right to demonstrate. There is freedom of speech and expression. We feel Punjab should be a separate nation,” he added.
The World Cup has witnessed other political protests during matches, with the International Cricket Council distancing itself from them each time.
Banners reading “#Justice for Kashmir” and “India stop genocide & free Kashmir” were flown over Headingley during India’s match with Sri Lanka on Saturday.
It followed an earlier incident when a banner reading “Justice for Balochistan” was flown over the same ground in Leeds during the game between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The game’s governing body previously said: “We do not condone any sort of political messages at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.”