Calls made for Southall MP to be sacked for anti-Sikh “racist” rant

UK Sikh groups and individuals are calling for the Labour Party to remove Virendra Sharma from his long-serving role as MP of Southall after he was filmed spewing anti-Sikh insults towards a respected community figure.

Sharma was filmed insulting UK Sikh community figure Sukhbir Singh Bassi. His bigotry has led to a petition demanding he is removed as MP for his actions garnering over 1500 signatures in under a week and a protest outside his Southall office being scheduled for the 17th of October. The Sikh Federation UK have directly called for Labour to act, pointing out the party recently suspended MP Rupa Huq for alleged anti-black comments just last week, yet have not even acknowledged complaints about Sharma.

The incident occurred on 2nd October when Sharma was in attendance at the Sri Guru Singh Sabha Southall Gurdwara elections event at Khalsa Primary School. Sharma was approached by respected Sukhbir Singh Bassi, a sevadaar (selfless servant) that has been helping to run children’s fitness classes at Barking Gurdwara for years, as well as being involved in various other seva (selfless service) efforts for decades. In a filmed interaction, Bassi can be seen standing with Sharma, speaking with him in polite tone, hands joined prayer style in a sign of respect as per South Asian culture as he said the following (translated from Punjabi and summarised):

“It’s nice to see an MP come and stand with the community leaders. But my personal view is that our community wants those that are our MPs, when they leave our Gurdwaras where they come to get votes, please don’t mind me putting you on the spot (note: at this point Sharma responds ‘I don’t mind at all’)...we want them (MPs) to talk about issues like the farmers protest, our people dying in India… talk about these things in parliament. You have come here to vote (in the Gurdwara elections), but whoever you vote for will upset the other party. Please don’t mind me saying, you are our Siyana (respected elder). We would like to see you stay neutral and also vocalise our issues in parliament.”

In an irrational display of anger, Sharma reacted by aggressively retorting to Bassi saying he has a right to be at the Gurdwara election, before insulting the Sikhi (following of Sikh faith) of Sukhbir Singh Bassi by saying “growing a beard does not make you Sikh” in Punjabi. The Sikh faith mandates the keeping of kes (unshorn hair) as part of the journey of Sikhi, and Amritdhari (initiated) Sikhs will never trim hair in any circumstances. Sharma’s comment is a lowbrow insult sometimes made towards kesdhari (those keeping unshorn hair) Sikhs which is derogatory to both the individual it is aimed at and also the faith itself. After Sharma’s bigotry towards Bassi, a bystander responded by questioning why Sharma would bring up Bassi’s beard, before also insulting the MP. It must be noted the bystander is not anyone viewed as a community figure in Sikh circles, and seemed to simply be angrily responding to Sharma’s bigot insults towards East London based community leader Bassi.

The work of groups like the Sikh Federation UK to have Sikh legally classified as an ethnic group has partial basis in physical visible differences between Sikhs and other ethnic groups, such as the maintaining of kes. As such, many Sikhs are stating that Sharma’s comments are completely racist, whilst others have simply labelled them anti-Sikh and bigoted.

It is believed Sharma’s tirade partly came from the fact he may have broken rules by voting in the Gurdwara elections as a follower of the Hindu faith, which he has openly proclaimed in his role as vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for British Hindus, leading to Satish Sharma of the National Council of Hindu Temples UK once stating that Virendra Sharma “politically flaunts Hindu Brahmin credentials to garner support from British Hindus”. Brahmin is largely regarded as the highest caste of the Hindu faith caste system, and India’s oppression of minorities is considered to partly come from Brahmin ideology. The Gurdwara election constitution prohibits anyone but Sikhs from voting. It is unclear why and how Sharma was allowed to vote, which he has stated he did.

Sharma, who has been MP for 15 years in Labour stronghold Southall, previously came under fire from many UK Sikhs for portraying himself as an expert on the Sikh faith and attempting to dismiss allegations of India’s torture of Scottish Sikh political prisoner Jagtar Singh Johal, whilst he later also failed to sign an MP letter of support for Jaggi. Sharma has faced criticism from many Southall locals for his lack of engagement with and action on community issues, such as the Clean Air for Southall and Heston group who campaign against property developers polluting the town. In 2019 Sharma’s “stance on a number of political and international issues, such as his position on issues relating to Kashmir and India-Pakistan bilateral” was said to be behind a “no confidence vote” motioned against him according to Indian media.

The Sikh Federation UK have now openly said they are “encouraging constituents to write to MPs demanding action from Keir Starmer against Virendra Sharma” due to his “pathetic statement full of lies and misrepresentations to defend his racist remarks.”

Given the magnitude of Sikh upset at Sharma’s insults towards Sukhbir Singh Bassi, an official Labour Party response is expected shortly. The Sikh Press Association will provide updates on the situation when possible.