UK Government must act to end discrimination and targeting of fully practicing Sikhs
Jatinder Singh is the Vice Chair of the Sikh Federation (UK) and served as the President at Guru Nanak Gurdwara, Smethwick and the Secretary General of the Sikh Council UK.
Dabinderjit Singh, the Principal Adviser to the Sikh Federation (UK) said:
‘We have written to Alex Chalk, the Justice Minster asking him to publicly condemn the religious and racial discrimination against a prominent Amritdhari (fully practising) Sikh who was asked to serve on a jury.”
“An urgent meeting has been requested with the Minister so he can tell us actions he and his department are taking to end this unnecessary discrimination.”
“If we fail to see action we will be launching a campaign to encourage all Sikhs and other people of faith who are called for jury service to decline to take part until this discrimination is stopped. This could significantly disrupt the criminal justice system across England and Wales, especially in cities like Birmingham and London.”
“We have also written to Shabana Mahmood, the Shadow Justice Minster and an MP in Birmingham about the incident and requested a meeting.”
“British Sikh activists and our religious institutions are increasingly being targeted for our political and religious views by the Tory Government to appease the Indian authorities. We are not convinced an incoming Labour Government understand the discrimination and targeting we face that challenges our right to freedom of religion and expression.”
Jatinder Singh, Dabinderjit Singh, Jas Singh and others from the Sikh Federation (UK) are available for interviews.
Jaspal Singh National Press Secretary Sikh Federation (UK)