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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Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi and Preet Kaur Gill have successfully been elected to Parliament following the General Election in the UK.
Tanmanjeet becomes the first turban wearing Sikh in history to be elected to the House of Commons. He was successful in obtaining 34,170 votes for the Labour Party in Slough. This constitutes a significantly increased majority of 16,998 votes and a vote share of 62.9% in that constituency.
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Sikh Council UK condemns the barbaric terrorist atrocity in London late last night and offers its condolences to the victims and their families. This is the third terrorist atrocity in as many months in the UK and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and loved ones.
Sikhs will be gathering in Trafalgar Square this afternoon and will be remembering the victims of the terrorist atrocity last night and in Manchester and prayers and a minutes silence will be held for all the victims sometime between 2-3pm.
The Trafalgar Square event is organised by the Federation of Sikh Organisations and is part of an annual remembrance of all the Sikhs killed at the Golden Temple in India in 1984 and subsequently
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Sikh Council UK condemns the suspected terrorist atrocity in Manchester. It was a cowardly and barbaric act to target innocent victims including young children at a music concert and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.
The Sikh community stands in solidarity with the people of Manchester at this difficult time and we are heartened to read the stories of Sikhs assisting the victims and their families during this atrocity such as the Sikh taxi driver AJ Singh running his taxi service for free overnight as communities come together to support the victims. We encourage all Sikh Gurdwara managements to arrange prayers for the victims and their families and to attend community initiatives to show solidarity at this time.
It is unfortunately the case that Sikhs and Sikh places of worship are often targeted following terror attacks where the perpetrators are in fact motivated by Islamophobia. We are calling upon all Sikhs and Sikh institutions to remain vigilant and take all relevant security measures.
Sikh Council UK urges any Sikhs affected by the atrocities or victims of hate crimes to report all concerns to the police and to Sikh Aware UK the hate crime monitoring platform of the Sikh community. Further details of Sikh Aware UK can be found at www.sikhaware.co.uk, on Twitter (@SikhAwareUK) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/SikhAwareUK).
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Sikh Council UK has written to the Italian Embassy in London concerning the reported decision of the Italian Supreme Court to uphold a criminal fine levied on a Sikh for wearing a kirpan in a public place.
Sikh Council UK European Affairs Committee Chair Surinder Singh Jandu said “We have expressed our strong concerns following the decision of the Supreme Court and have called upon the Italian Government to address this matter with the Italian and international Sikh community as a matter of urgency”.
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Labour Party Deputy Leader Tom Watson visited Gurdwaras in his West Bromwich East constituency today and highlighted Labour’s manifesto commitments to the Sikh community ahead of the forthcoming general election.
Addressing the congregations at Guru Nanak Gurdwara and Guru Har Rai Gurdwara, Tom Watson confirmed the Labour Party would be pledging to establish an independent inquiry into Britain’s role in connection with the Indian military attack at Harmandir Sahib (known as the Golden Temple) in Amritsar in 1984. He also confirmed Labour would be committing to honour those Sikhs who gave their lives in serving the country in the First and Second World Wars.
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The Home Secretary Rt Hon Amber Rudd visited the General Assembly of Sikh Council UK which was held at Gurdwara Baba Budha Ji In Nottingham on Saturday 6th May 2017.
During the visit she addressed Sikh Council UK members and welcomed the launch of Sikh Aware UK, the first hate crime monitoring platform for the Sikh community in the UK established by Sikh Council UK in partnership with several supporting partner organisations. As part of her visit the Home Secretary was given a tour of Gurdwara Baba Budha Ji and also unveiled a plaque commemorating the 350 years anniversary of the birth of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the tenth Guru of the Sikhs.
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