Sikh and Hindu organisations call the UK government to account for ‘hate crime’ discrimination

Rupanjana Dutta Wednesday 14th February 2018 09:16 EST
 
 

The British Sikh and Hindu organisations are demanding equal access, equal support and equal treatment by the government after raising issues affecting the ethnic minorities- such as hate crimes, religious literacies and bullying in schools. These organisations believe the government has not yet addressed these issues, despite several reminders. First pointed out by the Sikhs are now being supported by the Hindus as a joint campaign and they are together on a mission to seek justice.

As British society has evolved, Parliament has responded to ensure that legal protections remain up-to-date and indeed relevant but of late many of Britain’s communities are beginning to comment that the twin sisters of British Jurisprudence, Justitia and Prudentia are no longer blind to difference nor prudent and seem to be displaying increasingly tangible bias.

The Dharmic Communities such as the Hindus and Sikhs have been pressing the UK Government for equality of access, equality of support and equality of treatment but they believe that recent developments indicate that these requests are falling on deaf ears. The NCHTUK (National Council of Hindu Temples UK), the HFB (Hindu Forum of Britain) and the NSO (Network of Sikh Organisations)  have been therefore working together to communicate to the Government that these inequalities which appear systemic are harming the minority Dharmic communities and the NSO has recently presented these results, from the Sikh perspective to the Government. The concerns also apply equally to the Hindu community. Hence they are appreciative and supportive of the initiatives taken by Lord Singh and the NSO. 

‘Action Against Hate’ (July 2016) included reference to a number of government funded projects dedicated in tackling hate crime affecting Muslims and Jews. There was no reference to projects for Sikhs or any other non-Abrahamic faith group. Despite the high profile ‘revenge’ attack forLee Rigby on a Sikh dentist in Wales in 2015, and a catalogue of hate crimes against Sikhs here, and in the U.S where the first person to be killed in retribution for 9/11 was a Sikh, there is little focus on the community from government. With the exception of the places of worship security fund, there has been little progress. The one initiative (with True Vision) looking to help support Hindu and Sikh victims of hate, announced in 2017, has not moved any further forwards, despite being announced a year ago. ‘Prevention’ in the school setting must also be inclusive of children of non-Abrahamic faiths.

True Vision: Back in January 2017, the community were heartened to see the government acknowledge a specific request in their submission to this very inquiry, by announcing specific funding for Hindu and Sikh communities in helping report hate crime via the police-reporting portal True Vision. Despite an initial meeting with True Vision, and subsequent correspondence since, a year on the project appears to have come no further forwards. The communities demand the inquiry to establish the reason for the delay.

 The Indian diaspora understands that the True Vision is working with National Churchwatch (NC) in promoting a series of workshops talking with clergy about how to keep safe. This also involves the funding for NC to work with academics at Royal Holloway University to conduct research into anti-Christian hate. Hindus and Sikhs want a similar commitment and have established links with academics, who are already conducting research into the post 9/11 backlash Sikhs face and would be able to assist. They aspire to see government funding commitment to support such research efforts.

The communities are aware of the publication of forthcoming Routledge academic volume titled:’Racialization, Islamophobia and Mistaken Identity: The Sikh Experience’. This is being co-authored by Dr Jagbir Jhutti-Johal from the University of Birmingham and journalist Hardeep Singh, who is an officer in the NSO. 

Religious literacy:  Much of the hatred directed at Sikhs is down to ignorance about Sikhism and Sikh articles of faith. This is why Sikhs and other non-Muslims are being recorded as victims of ‘Islamophobic hate crime’ by forces like the MET police. The figures obtained via FOI from the MET show that 25% of victims of so called ‘Islamophobic hate crime’ in 2016 are non-Muslims, and for the previous year the figure is 28%. Some recent research on non-Muslim victims of Islamophobia (which includes Sikhs) by Professor Peter Hopkins from the University of Newcastle recommends,‘increasing understanding of ethnic, religious and cultural differences.’ Thr communities demand that the government must ensure steps for parity for all faith groups with this in mind.

Bullying in schools: As Professor Peter Hopkins points out ‘misidentification’ occurs in public places includingschools.Action Against Hate-states it would tackle bullying in schools with a ‘new programme to equip teachers to facilitate conversations about ‘difficult topics’ and carry out a new assessment of the level of anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic, homophobic, racist and other bullying in schools’. This involves working with the Anne Frank Trust and Streetwise, which run educational programmes.Sikh children, (in particular thosewith patkas) must also to be considered in the context of Islamophobia. There was the case from the U.S in which a boy is filming his classmates on a bus whilst they refer to him as a ‘terrorist’. The video shot in 2015 went viral, but shows how visible difference can promote prejudice. The Dharmic organisations find it peculiar that the government hasn’t extended ‘prevention’ projects to other children from ‘visible’ faith minorities and are requesting an urgent review of this element with input from both the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Education. They also want that the government must brief project leads in the Anne Frank Trust and Streetwise on this element to encourage a more inclusive faith community approach.


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