Claim of “Pro-Khalistan Extremism” made to “appease” India, say Sikh Federation UK

A claim in a recent independent review of Prevent which stated the UK government counter-terror initiative should be “mindful” of “Pro-Khalistan extremism” in the UK was made to “appease…the Indian government”, according to the Sikh Federation UK.

In a press release, community legal and political advocacy group Sikh Federation UK stated the inclusion of alleged “Pro-Khalistan extremism” along with the omission of Hindutva (Hindu extremism) despite evidence of its growth in the UK showed “British politicians” were acting on “pressure being applied by the BJP Indian government”.

See the Sikh Federation UK statement in full here.

Last week (07.02.23) a government commissioned independent review of Prevent was released. The review was done by William Shawcross, a journalist by trade with an Eton-Oxford background who has also worked for The Sunday Times, BBC and the UK Charity Commission. The review by Shawcross has been widely criticised, with Amnesty International UK saying it is “deeply prejudiced” and “has no legitimacy”, due to bias from Shawcross and his history of “bigotry”.

The review included one sole paragraph on alleged “extremism” within the Sikh community, included as a footnote without any data or specifics to support the claims (see image below). The statement on Khalistan (free Sikh homeland movement) included that “the current threat is low”, making Shawcross’ claims against British Sikhs purely speculative.

The paragraph claims there is a “false narrative…that the UK government is colluding with its counterpart in India to persecute Sikhs”. At least three recent incidents in recent memory contradict this claim, proving that the UK has indeed colluded with India in efforts to target Sikh activists. These are:

1. Findings from journalist Phil Miller which showed Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government provided advice to India for their 1984 invasion of holy Sikh site Sri Harmandir Sahib, leaving thousands of civilians dead, seen as the beginning of India’s Sikh genocide
2. Claims by Indian media that “diplomatic pressure” was behind the UK’s counter-terror raids on five Sikh men in 2018, which has been linked by famed human rights lawyer Gareth Peirce to the torture of Scotsman Jagtar Singh Johal. The outcome of the raids was one single charge of a Charities Commission breach of one of the men who has never worked for a charity. The charge has still not been taken to trial five years later and remains in limbo.
3. Findings from non-Sikh human rights NGO Reprieve which show UK intelligence facilitated India’s capture and subsequent torture of British Sikh political prisoner Jagtar Singh Johal

Along with the above, random mentions of Sikh “extremism” by MPs Priti Patel, Boris Johnson and Bob Blackman (who was found to be taking money from Indian nationalist support groups) have suggested to Sikhs that the Indian government’s efforts to claim there is a Sikh extremism problem to silence Sikh activism against the state’s human rights breaches have crept into UK politics and even UK policing, evident from West Midlands Police’s Matt Ward’s comments on the non-issue. There were also concerns from UK Sikhs regarding a 2019 UK government Counter-Extremism Commission report on “Sikh activism”, due to its undue focus on minor incidents which many felt were undeservingly focused on through the “extremism” lens and using evidence from just 12 hand-picked interviewees. A report on similar issues given more credibility by grassroots Sikh organisations was the CREST review of “Sikh Activism in Britain” by Dr Jasjit Singh, which was created after various meetings with Sikh groups and lengthy reviews into specific incidents within the community. The findings of the CREST review showed there was no Sikh threat to the public.

Sikh Federation UK’s Principal Adviser Dabinderjit Singh highlighted how the UK would be better of turning attention to the very real threat of Hindutva in the UK, saying, “This reference to Sikhs contrasts with a deliberate oversight by William Shawcross of Hindu nationalism, known as Hindutva, in Britain that recently reared its ugly head in widespread violence and terror in Leicester”.

Media looking for more information on Sikh concerns about the unwarranted India state influenced speculative focus on “Khalistan extremism” can email media@sikhpa.com.