London, UK - On 1July 1st, Sikhs organised a successful lobby in the UK Parliament titled: Proud to be Sikh – Make the Sikh voice heard. The three issues covered on the lobby were:
It was most refreshing to see a cross section of the Sikh community with not just some of the old familiar faces and activists, but more youngsters and a sizeable turnout of women. Politicians also picked up on this and welcomed the broader representation of British Sikhs.
The meeting chaired by Rob Marris MP, the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for UK Sikhs was switched to Committee Room 14, the largest in the Houses of Parliament, to accommodate a large number of Sikhs that totalled around 120. Many would have been left standing if the meeting had remained in the smaller Committee Room 9.
The first speaker was Anna Fairclough, the lawyer working for Liberty who explained the background to the Kara case in Aberdare Girl’s School in South Wales and some of the arguments presented in the legal challenge in the High Court in London between 17-19 June. Protection of Sikhs from discrimination under the Race Relations Act 1976 and the 1983 House of Lords Mandla v Lee case were the basis for the arguments in court. Despite some complications in this specific case given Sarika Singh’s background and biological parents those present in the High Court believe the judgement expected later this month will be favourable.
The next main speaker was Paramjit Singh Dhanda a Minister in the Department for Communities and Local Government. Paramjit has become a relatively smooth talker and being from the Sikh community is aware of some of the things members of the community would like to hear. In between his smooth talking he touched upon the ‘difficulties’ of producing a Code of Practice. He was also cautious in talking about guidance covering only the Kirpan in Government buildings. Sikh activists and the APPG for UK Sikhs took serious note of what was said and the limited scope and constant delays in introducing a wider code of practice covering all Sikh articles of faith. A proposal was put forward whereby the APPG for UK Sikhs working with grassroots Sikh organisations will re-take the initiative on behalf of the community for agreeing and introducing a wider code of practice with the UK Government at the earliest opportunity. The proposal is expected to be endorsed at the AGM of the APPG for UK Sikhs on Wednesday 9 July.
On the need for monitoring of Sikhs as a distinct category in the Census 2011 so all public bodies need to ensure Sikhs are equally treated as regards provision of public services Paramjit Singh Dhanda suggested there were some within the Sikh community that did not agree with this approach. This along with the demands of several other groups appears to be part of the ‘official’ reason why the ONS are reluctant to have a distinct category for Sikhs in the Census 2011.. Several of the politicians present were made aware that specific written consultation carried out by ONS in this area did not support this view as there was unanimous support in the Sikh community for monitoring of Sikhs as a distinct category.
The politicians present were left in no doubt about the strength of feeling in the Sikh community that the Sikh case was entirely different to other groups given the legal precedence, results of the consultation exercise by ONS and cross party political support. It was proposed ONS should be invited to meet with the APPG for UK Sikhs to explain its position to elected representatives. Parliamentary questions are also to be tabled to establish the facts regarding those for and against monitoring of Sikhs as a distinct category in the Census 2011. Another idea being considered is a Judicial Review challenge against the ONS if it ignores the Mandla v Lee case and the results of its own consultation and fails to allow monitoring of Sikhs as a distinct category in the Census 2011 so all public bodies ensure Sikhs are equally treated as regards provision of public services.
The third issue raised in the lobby was the recent indiscriminate attacks on innocent Sikhs in India by police and armed forces following the killing of Bhai Balkar Singh who was shot dead in Mumbia on 20 June 2008. Images of the attacks on Sikhs were circulated to politicians who agreed to raise an Early Day Motion expressing their concern on the treatment of Sikhs and calling on the UK Government to raise the matter with the Indian authorities. Simon Hughes MP, the President of the Liberal Democrats and Vice-Chair APPG for UK Sikhs who also spoke said he would publicly raise the matter with the Foreign Secretary in either Parliamentary Questions or during debate. Labour MPs also agreed to take up the matter at a personal level with Foreign Office Ministers.
Virendra Sharma the MP for Ealing Southall also attended the Sikh Lobby for the first time and expressed his full support on all the issues raised. Responding to a question from Sikhs Simon Hughes also said he would keep up pressure on Paramjit Singh Dhaddi’s continued detention. Politicians that took part in the lobby included: Rob Marris, Simon Hughes, Paramjit Dhanda, Mark Todd, Mike Gapes, David Kidney, Alan Keen, Fiona Mactaggart, John Hemmings, Ken Purchase, Virendra Sharma, Adam Holloway and Doug Naysmith. Boris Johnson, the new Mayor of London, Dominic Grieve, the new Shadow Home Secretary and several Labour Ministers sent their apologies.
Some of the Sikhs that spoke during the lobby were: Balvinder Kaur, Chair of the Sikh Women’s Alliance; Dabinderjit Singh, National Co-ordinator for the Sikh Secretariat; Gurmukh Singh, Administrative Secretary for the British Sikh Consultative Forum; Harbhajan Singh, Sikh Federation, Leicester; Harjinder Singh, Sikh Care Society Heathrow; Councillor Jagir Kaur Sekhon OBE; Kashmir Singh, General Secretary of the British Sikh Federation; Mejinderpal Kaur, Director of United Sikhs; Det Chief Inspector Pal Binder, Secretary of the Metropolitan Police Sikh Association; Ranjit Singh, General Secretary Council of Khalistan; Sukhvinder Singh, Adviser to the Sikh Federation (UK) and Councillor Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi. Around half a dozen youngsters also spoke at various times during the lobby.
