****Please send the letter below via email to your MP. Letter is also attached in word and PDF. Also forward this email to family and friends to write to their MP and take part in the lobby.
Add the name of the MP at the top of the letter and your name and full address at the bottom of the letter
The email for your MP can be obtained using your postcode and the following link:
https://members.parliament.uk/members/commons** or call The Parliament switchboard on 0207 219 3000 and speak to your MP direct to attend the Lobby**
Dear {MPs name]
Sikh Lobby on Tuesday 12 July 2022 from 12 noon to 3pm
An open letter was sent to the Prime Minister from over 300 UK Gurdwaras and Sikh organisations on 9 February 2022 covering the following three issues:
acknowledging Jagtar Singh Johal has been tortured and held in arbitrary detention in an Indian jail for more than 4 years and securing his immediate release and return to the UK;
action against Priti Patel for her offensive, pre-meditated and inappropriate reference to law-abiding British Sikhs as extremists in a speech in Washington DC on Gurpurb that she has been unable to corroborate with any evidence; and
the PM, Number 10 and relevant DLUHC Ministers all forgetting for the first time to recognise and share a message on the Gurpurb (Birthday) of Guru Nanak Dev Ji on 19 November 2021.
The open letter was copied to all MPs and some have written to the PM and Ministers to seek clarification on the points raised in the open letter without much success. 15 weeks ago a Point of Order was raised in Parliament regarding a response from the PM. A spokesperson at 10 Downing Street told Sky News that week that the government would be responding to the open letter.
Regrettably more than 20 weeks after the open letter was sent to the PM and copied to other party leaders and all MPs the PM has struggled and failed to respond to the issues raised. Sikhs from across the UK are disappointed and have decided to lobby their MPs in Parliament on Tuesday 12 July from 12 noon to 3pm to ask what their own MPs have done to secure a response from the PM to the issues in the open letter.
Although the Prime Minister in a letter to Keir Starmer on 21 June 2022 acknowledged for the first time Jagtar Singh Johal is in arbitrary detention in an Indian jail, he has not indicated what actions the UK Government is taking to get Jagtar immediately released and brought back to the UK. There is no legal basis to detain Jagtar for being a Sikh activist.
Other issues Sikhs will be raising at the lobby is the failure of the government to address anti-Sikh hate in the same way as Antisemitism and Islamophobia. The government has not responded to the APPG for British Sikhs report issued in October 2020 covering the definition and community-led solution to under reporting. Data provided by the Metropolitan Police last week to Sikh community representatives suggests reported anti-Sikh hate crimes in the last 12 months up to 31 March 2022 may have risen four-fold across the UK.
Bullying and discrimination of Sikh children at school because of their identity, the need for a Statutory Code of Practice for the five Kakaars and Dastaar and the lack of data collected by public bodies relating to Sikhs to address inequalities and discrimination to make appropriate decisions in accordance with the Equality Act 2010 are other critical issues that are expected to be raised at the lobby.
Please confirm your availability to meet between 12 noon and 3pm on Tuesday 12 July in central lobby in Parliament. Sikhs will gather in a Committee Room TBC between 2-3pm. If you are unable to meet, please write to explain what actions you have taken or will be taking on the issues raised.
Your sincerely,
Enter your Name and full address with postcode