The Sikh Federation (UK) is proposing a worldwide ban on Indian Government ‘officials’ from visiting hundreds of Gurdwaras in the diaspora in any official capacity, a move they believe will send alarm bells ringing in the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi and Indian High Commissions across the globe.
This is in reaction to the arrest of Jagtar Singh Johal. The 30-year-old man from Scotland was with his new wife and his cousin when he was arrested on Punjab's street on November 4. Local reports state that he is accused of funding the purchase of weapons connected to the targeted killings of high-profile Hindus, and of “influencing the youth” by publishing material related to the deaths of thousands of Sikhs in pogroms in 1984. Asian Voice wrote an extensive report about the community uproars in the 25 November issue against this arrest.
Gurdwaras are places of worship and dissemination of community wide information and are the main Sikh institutions where millions of Sikhs gather each week. In the UK hundreds of thousands of Sikhs go to Gurdwaras each week and the ban could extend to over 100 Gurdwaras, including many of the largest Gurdwaras in the country.
At this weekend the Federation of Sikh Organisations (FSO), of which the Sikh Federation (UK) is a leading member discussed the proposed declaration that is due to come into effect later this month. Eight regional Gurdwara Councils across the UK and organisations like the Sikh Council (UK) have also been approached to encourage Gurdwaras who are members to become signatories to the declaration.
They believe the Indian government will see this as a significant challenge to its authority and will regard the ban extremely seriously as the Sikh Federation (UK) is by far the largest, most prominent and influential campaigning Sikh organisation in the UK and across Europe.
Bhai Amrik Singh, the Chair of the Sikh Federation (UK) in a statement said: “Sikhs in the diaspora are fed up with Indian Government officials and their agents increasingly interfere in our institutions and Sikh affairs, undermining of Sikh campaigns for greater rights and internal matters for the Sikh community.”
“In Germany in recent years we have seen the authorities to their credit collect evidence, make arrests and prosecute agents reporting to Indian government officials on Sikhs who are German citizens.
"The latest tactic by the Indian authorities of targeting Sikhs from the Diaspora when they visit the Sikh homeland as demonstrated by the case of British citizen Jagtar Singh Johal has broken the camel’s back.”
"We have been in discussions with the British police and government officials in the UK to see whether arrests and prosecutions are possible against agents reporting to Indian government officials. It is clear MI5 has considerable evidence of the activities of these agents, but the political will to make arrests and prosecute is not yet there.”
"We will keep up the pressure for the arrest and prosecution of these agents, but in the meantime the Gurdwara ban is a way of mitigating the problems being created by Indian officials for Sikhs in the Diaspora.”
Recently, the Gurdwaras that the Sikh Federation (UK) associate with in Ontario, Canada have started this initiative of the ban that has spread to other parts of Canada and with this latest push is expected to sweep across the diaspora like wild fire.
The High Commission of India did not make any comments.
