Sikh Council to invite WMP and Charities Commission to meet as both urged to ‘exercise caution’ on Sikh Youth UK arrests

A Sikh Council statement released yesterday (10th July) urged ‘authorities and media outlets to exercise caution and evaluate the counter-productive results of their actions’ in regards to the recent arrests of members of Sikh Youth UK.

The statement, one of several released this week by Sikh organisations, also highlighted that ‘justice requires that a person is considered and treated innocent until proven guilty’, before going on to state ‘we will be inviting the leaders of the relevant authorities to discuss the matter’.

The statement follows the arrest of last week of Deepa Singh, a senior sevadaar (selfless volunteer) of Sikh Youth UK, based on a Charities Commission inquiry into the funding of SYUK, who are not a registered charity. The announcement of a Charities Commission inquiry into SYUK was the result of a series of raids carried out on the homes of five Sikh activists in September 2018 by police across the UK. During those raids, no arrests were made but property was confiscated. Indian media subsequently printed reports containing quotes from anonymous sources claiming ‘the raids were a result of diplomatic pressure’. Furthermore to the case, respected human rights lawyer Gareth Peirce stated she had discovered ‘a paper trail’ that led back to Punjab Police and their torture of Jagtar Singh Johal, the Scottish Sikh that has been detained in India for over 600 days. Read more on this side of the story by clicking here.

Other Sikh organisations to release statements this week on the situation include the Satkar Committee UK, an organisation designed to help uphold protocol regarding Sikh scripture and practice, Guru Arjan Dev Ji Gurdwara Derby and Sikh publication Naujawani, headed by respected Sikh scholar Harwinder Singh Mander.

In the Naujawani statement, Harwinder Singh stated ‘a trial by social media is grossly unfair’ and that ‘an investigation…should not become a sideshow of propaganda and character assassination’, before adding ‘That this is occurring now, when tensions between the Sikh community and the Indian state are as heightened as they have ever been, and with the continued incarceration of Jagtar Singh Johal, is no coincidence’.

The Sikh Press Association will continue to provide updates on this story as they come in.