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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