London: Around 100 British MPs cutting across party lines have aligned with a Sikh organisation known as Sikh Federation UK to endorse and support the demand that Sikhs are ethnically different from Indians.
As reported by the media sources the MPs, under the banner of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for British Sikhs (APPGBS) and Sikh Federation UK (SFUK) — previously known as the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), which was banned by the British government in 2001 have approached Britain’s Office of Statistics (OS) to list Sikhs as an ethnic group separate from Indians.
Image For Representation.
Following this decision of the MP’s there was no noticeable reaction or comment upon it from the Indian High Commission based in London. It is widely said that the decision if accepted or passed by the remaining members may infuriate the Indian state as it has consistently clubbed Sikhs as Hindus under Article 25 of its constitution and never recognised Sikhs as a separate entity.
Whereas, the British Foreign Office while passing the buck to the Office of Statistics (OS), in its statement the OS reportedly said “As we said to the All-Party Parliamentary Group, no decision has been taken on this issue. We will continue to work with the Sikh community on the best way forward. The National Statistician will not be making his recommendations until early 2018.”
The demand gained momentum when two Sikhs, Tanmanjit Dhesi and Preet Kaur Gill, were elected to the House of Commons in June. On September 12, its delegation led by its chairperson Gill, together with an “adviser” of the SFUK, said to be Dabinderjit Singh Sidhu (known to be a Pro-Freedom activist), submitted a reported letter to the ONS demanding a separate tick box for Sikhs in the future census in the UK, media reports said.
“We hope,” the letter threatened, “you will positively respond to our request on the inclusion of a separate Sikh ethnic tick box in the Census 2021 and the Sikh community is not forced to take legal action or we are not compelled to make this change when Parliament is asked to approve the Census 2021 questionnaire,” reads the quote from the reported letter.
Furthermore, a spokesman for Gill said the SFUK provided “secretariat services” to the APPGBS. It was only 18 months ago that Theresa May, now prime minister and then home secretary, lifted the proscription on the ISYF/SFUK. Interestingly, Sidhu is an executive at Britain’s National Audit Office – which equates to the C&AG in India – and received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) award in 2000.
A census in Britain takes place every 10 years. The questionnaire in the 2011 form when seeking to know one’s ethnic background provided choices of “Indian”, “Pakistani”, “Bangladeshi”, “Chinese” and “Any other Asian background” under the category of “Asian/Asian British”. In other words, the ONS does not consider Sikhs to be ethnically different from Indians. At the same time, one can tick “any other” and specify if the person so wishes, notes The Tribune (TT).
The News Around 100 UK MP’s Endorse Non-Indian Ethnic Identity Move Of Sikhs appeared first on Sikh Siyasat News.
from Sikh Siyasat News http://ift.tt/2xvKF2O
0 comments