Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn re-affirmed his personal commitment to the manifesto commitments made by the party on Sikh issues before the election. In a letter to Sikh Council UK members ahead of the Sikh Council UK General Assembly at Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara Leicester yesterday, Jeremy Corbyn said he remained committed to implementing the pledges in government in respect of addressing longstanding concerns regarding the wearing of Sikh articles of faith in this country and to establishing an independent inquiry to review the role of the British Government in the 1984 Darbar Sahib attack.

Whilst wishing members a successful and productive General Assembly Jeremy Corbyn acknowledged the work of Sikh Council UK and others who have campaigned for more Sikhs in Parliament and expressed his pride at seeing history being made with Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi and Preet Kaur Gill being elected as the first turban wearing Sikh and first female Sikh MPs respectively. He acknowledged that there was more to do and confirmed his commitment to making Parliament and all parts of public life more diverse.

The General Assembly also received a letter from Lord Bourne the Minister of Faith and Integration at the Department for Communities and Local Government. Lord Bourne also acknowledged the work being undertaken by Sikh Council UK for increased Sikh participation in public life and expressed the need to do more in seeking a Parliament and Government which reflects the society they serve. He referred to the Race Disparity Audit which he hoped would inform the Sikh Council UK in its work. He paid tribute to Gurmel Singh and offered his congratulations from everyone at the Department for Communities and Local Government to Jagtar Singh as the incoming Secretary General of Sikh Council UK and said he looked forward to working with him going forward.

This was the first Sikh Council UK General Assembly since the general election and was attended by over hundred delegates representing Gurdwaras and other Sikh organisations from all parts of the country. The General Assembly was delighted to receive special guest Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi MP. He expressed his gratitude to Sikh Council UK members for their support in his campaign and for all the work undertaken to increase Sikh representation in Parliament without which he said his success would not have been possible. Tanmanjeet spoke of his Sikh background and roots and expressed his wish for Sikh Council UK to go from strength to strength in its vision of uniting the community. He provided details of his work priorities including establishing a permanent memorial in central London to highlight the Sikh contribution to the world wars.

Read the full General Assembly report published by the Sikh Council UK online.

Sikh Council UK today wrote to the Office of National Statistics to reaffirm the case for a separate Sikh ethnic tick box in the Census 2021.

Over 83,000 Sikhs identified their ethnic background as Sikh in the last census in 2011 despite there being no designated provision for this. The ONS undertook consultations of stakeholders in respect of the next census in 2015 and 2016 and concluded there was demand and earlier this year tested the use of a separate Sikh ethnic tick box and are currently undertaking further research before making a recommendation in the next three to four months that will be reflected in the Census White Paper 2018.

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Sikh Council UK hosted a large panthic gathering at Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara in Leicester on Saturday 2 September. The meeting was attended by over a hundred delegates representing Gurdwaras and Sikh organisations from across the country including London, the South East, West Midlands, East Midlands, North-West and North-East.

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Sikh Council UK is saddened to hear the news that Bhai Jagraj Singh Ji, founder of Everything13 and Basics of Sikhi has passed away today (20.07.17).

The Sikh Community around the world, not just the UK, has lost a great pioneer who brought Sikhi to millions of people around the world through his YouTube videos and charitable work.

Bhai Jagraj Singh was a great supporter of the Sikh Council UK. General Secretary of the Sikh Council UK, Gurmel Singh, said: “It is deeply saddening news about the passing of Jagraj Singh today and all of our prayers are with Jagraj Singh’s family in this truly difficult time.

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Senior representatives of Sikh Council UK met with the first Dastar wearing Sikh Member of Parliament in the UK, Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi MP at the Palace of Westminster in London yesterday.

Secretary General Elect of the Sikh Council UK, Jagtar Singh Gill, was accompanied by Head of Public Affairs & Political Engagement, Gurinder Singh Josan and Head of Operations, Balvinder Kaur during the meeting.

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Sikh Council UK welcomed the historic occasion of the first dastar wearing Sikh Member of Parliament in the UK House of Commons giving his maiden speech in Parliament today.  Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi MP for Slough rose to deliver a powerful speech that was welcomed and praised by all.

During his speech Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi made reference to his Sikh faith and heritage including his dastar. He mentioned the Sikh contribution during the world wars where over 80,000 Sikhs laid down their lives and he lamented the problems faced by Sikhs and others in countries like France today where Sikhs are not allowed to attend state schools wearing nor have their official identity documents wearing dastars.

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Sikh Council UK condemned the terrorist attack in London this morning and urged Sikh Gurdwara managements to remain vigilant and for the maintenance of all relevant safety and security measures.

Sikh Council UK Chair of Community Safety Ravjeet Singh said “We are in the unfortunate situation today of coming to terms with yet another terrorist atrocity. We condemn today’s incident at Finsbury Park in the strongest terms and we offer our condolences, thoughts and prayers to the innocent victims.

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Following intense two day discussions facilitated by Sikh Council UK, sangat unanimously agreed today (11.06.2017) to rise above their differences and work towards building community cohesion and improving governance. They formed a committee of consensus and will be a task group to progress on a number of key areas.

A general meeting will be held during September 2017 to agree a new constitution, revised financial procedures and processes for dealing with complaints, handling disputes and disciplinary matters.

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