Sikh Hustings 2019 – Summary & Video

On Wednesday 4th December, the Sikh Press Association hosted the 2019 Sikh General Election Hustings, discussing community issues relevant to broader points debated for this election.

You can watch the video of the event by clicking here. Below is a summary of the event and its fallout.

The format of the event saw a panel advocating different political stances and answering questions as to why Sikhs should vote their way. On the panel was: Vijay Singh Srao (UKIP candidate in Wycombe), Sonam Kaur Parmar (Green Party campaigner), and Shamsher Singh (National Sikh Youth Federation activist and educator, advocating that Sikhs should abstain).

Also scheduled to be on the panel was Kanwal Toor Gill, a Sikh and the Conservative Party candidate for Slough, as well as the Labour Party’s MP candidate for Kensington, Emma Dent Coad.

Kanwal Toor Gill pulled out of the hustings at 48 hours notice, stating to Sikh PA she had a ‘personal emergency’. Despite this statement, on the evening of the 4th of December when the hustings took place, Kanwal was out canvassing for her seat in Slough.

Emma Dent Coad’s office messaged Sikh PA with just 24 hours notice to state she would be unable to participate due to ongoing health issues.

Speaking on the last minute pullouts, Sikh PA Senior Press Officer Jasveer Singh said, “The fact Kanwal Toor Gill was out on the same evening as our hustings canvassing for her own seat underlines the way the Conservative Party and their Sikh advocacy group Sikh Tories have brushed off requests for open engagement with the Sikh community.

“Stating she had a ‘personal emergency’ which meant she was unavailable on the evening of December 4th and then being pictured door-knocking that same evening suggests a level of dishonesty that should concern any potential voters. Comparatively, her Labour and Lib Dem Sikh counterparts for the Slough seat (Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi and Aaron Chahal) were both very open when we requested them to be panellists in early November, responding that they could not take part due to commitments within their constituency.”

Emma Dent Coad’s office were extremely apologetic and sympathetic of the impact of her last minute cancellation. We wish Emma all the best with her health issues and thank her team for their willingness to engage.

However, what is extremely frustrating and telling is that all England’s mainstream political parties were invited to participate in some form in the only Sikh community hustings of 2019. None of them, other than the Greens and UKIP, seemed to give the event any sense of importance, despite the fact we knew and explained there would be thousands of live views, dozens in attendance and that it would go out on national TV thanks to channel KTV (Khalsa TV).

The Labour and Conservative parties particularly seemed dismissive of the event at a senior level. We contacted their head offices, affiliate advocate groups and their party members probably every other day from November 11th. As such, with the vastness of their networks, it was strange no one was on hand to replace Kanwal or Emma when they cancelled.

The Labour Party also insisted right up until just a few hours before our hustings they were sending a replacement for Emma Dent Coad, which of course never happened. This again, seems an action of dishonesty.

Also, the fact that neither Sikh Tories or Sikhs 4 Labour supported nor created any spaces for meaningful dialogue between the Sikh community and the groups they advocate for during this election period is indicative of a need for change with how their parties engage with the community.

This is a sentiment not merely based on the Sikh PA hustings. In October we made great effort to support the Politics for Normal People hustings which took place in Hounslow Alice Way Gurdwara, organised by Deepak Singh. Deepak also told us of his frustration at the lack of support for such engagement from the Sikh community representatives that hold the keys to engaging with political parties. Both Sikh Tories and Sikhs For Labour didn’t support this event either.

The Sikh Network, the team behind the Sikh Manifesto, will also agree there needs to be more done to engage directly with the community. The response from the Sikh community to the frustratingly cliche’ Gurdwara visits of politicians, which sees them honoured and given roti-making photo opportunities without any open dialogue with the community, is clear for all to see online.

The Sikh community is one full of knowledgeable and active community figures that deserve to be able to speak directly to their political representatives. The UK’s political parties and their Sikh advocate groups need to evolve how the engage with the community or risk further alienating potential Sikh voters.”

The hustings, held at Imperial College London, was hosted by Jasveer Singh the discussion centred around five questions.

The first question of the evening was:

• Considering the possibilities of Brexit, which way should Sikhs vote to lobby for dastaar (Sikh turban) rights in the EU?

This question relates to the France and Belgium public sector worker turban ban.

Vijay Singh Srao commenced by stating that this election is important and this is the Brexit election. Specifically stating: ‘EU won’t do anything with dastaar [-wearing rights] but we can make sure we treat everyone equal here’, suggesting ‘it is best for the UK to leave Europe.’ Vijay also added that the rights of Sikhs being respected in a sovereign post-Brexit Britain would provide the example to which European countries could be held to, shaming them into action.

Shamsher Singh, representing the abstain position, stated that ‘Britain does not have an institutional ban on the dastaar because of the protection of British legal rights which Sikhs fought for. However, racism still shows in their political behaviour’, suggesting that voting does not provide the answer to supporting a right which was obtained by British Sikhs through protest and agitation.

Sonam Kaur stated that one should realise that Sikhs in mainland Europe “do not have strong representation” and therefore there is a need for strong “grassroots support” of British Sikhs, something which the Green Party would acknowledge and support due to their internal policies to stand against any discrimination.

Jasveer Singh added in information from a conversation with United Sikhs, a Sikh legal advocacy group that have fought cases for dastaar rights in Europe, stating that Mejindarpal Kaur (U.S director) stated that “Brexit will not impact the ability to take up cases with the European court of human rights in Strasbourg.

“However, connection with the European Network against Racism and European network on religion and belief would be lost as they are parts of the EU. This is a very helpful resource for the work we do. Also, with Brexit you lose ability to go through the European court of justice in Luxembourg where EU laws can be redressed.”

The second question of the evening was:

• Is offering an apology for Jallianwala Bagh or offering an inquiry into UK involvement in the 1984 Sikh Genocide reason a reason to vote for a particular party?

This question referred to Labour’s inclusion (and other parties’ lack of inclusion) of a manifesto pledge to apologise for/look into historic issues which many felt saw Britain (play a part in) oppress the Sikh nation.

Sonam Kaur stated ‘Nothing anyone can do or say to heal the hurt of the pain of 1984’ whilst also adding ‘The erasure of history adds salt to the wound’, therefore advocating steps towards including such actions of Britain into the education curriculum, something which the Greens supported in their manifesto.

Additionally, Shamsher Singh stated that ‘Britain’s trade with India has too much significance’ for the government to ever side with Sikhs on such topics, meaning no vote could change this and Sikhs needed to continue to organise at a grassroots level.

Vijay Singh stated that he felt that these were issues that only the diaspora cared about and India’s Sikhs were not to fussed about, leading to an outcry from the audience. In regards to voting UKIP, Vijay Singh suggested strengthening ties by being closer to India – which Brexit would do – will help UK influence the situation.

The topic did lead to discussion on Khalistan, which saw Shamsher Singh discuss the significance of a UK party ever possibly advocating it for Sikhs, whilst Sonam Kaur also highlighted the Green Party were openly supportive of any people’s right to ‘self-determination’.

The third question was:

• The family, legal team and local MP of Jagtar Singh Johal have all stated the UK government has not done enough to help with his situation. How can Sikhs vote to rectify this?

This referenced the case of Jagtar Singh Johal, the Scottish citizen detained for over two years in India, who has been tortured and has seen his court hearings endlessly delayed, keeping him incarcerated without progress on his case. More info is available at sikhpa.com/freejagginow.

Sonam Kaur stated “As a British citizen, Jaggi should be ensured a fair trial. If trade deals are being secured then this should be reasonable to demand for him” by the UK government, and said that the Greens would support this based on their human rights policies.

Vijay Singh stated he was personally aware of the prolonged workings of the Indian legal system and that needs work. He also added the UK government should do all they can to make sure that British citizens are not banged up abroad which Brexit and British sovereignty would support, which is why Sikhs should vote UKIP. However, upon being questioned by the audience he also admitted both himself and his party UKIP had not done anything for the #FreeJaggiNow campaign.

Shamsher Singh stated that there should be no expectation of support from the UK Government as trade would always be their priority with India, whilst also stating that ‘mobilising on the streets’ is what prompted UK government into speaking on the case in the first place, negating the view a vote could help further this.

The fourth question was:

• With so many accusations of bigotry towards certain faiths aimed at our political parties, what tells us the Sikh community can trust any of them?

This questioned referred to the various faith groups accusing the majority of UK political parties of some form of bigotry.

Vijay Singh stated that Sikhs should put trust in God and not in political parties but be more transactional with political parties, so support whoever fits one’s individual agenda.

Sonam Kaur stated “Institutional racism exists in even in the most left wing of parties” but added that more representation would curtail this, before advocating voting Green because of the party’s “internal democracy” system which sees every policy and position they stand with go through an internal voting process.

Shamsher Singh asked on this topic, “What are these parties going to do to change their relationships with the Sikh community?”, suggesting it should be for the parties to present themselves in a way that encourages Sikh votes, rather than Sikhs having to sift through issues to find a reason to vote for any of them. Also, Shamsher Singh stated that Sikhs needed to recognise how deeply intrenched racism is in UK establishments.

The host Jasveer Singh added in commentary from longtime Labour member turned independent political voice Chaz Singh of Plymouth. Chaz left Labour after saying that the workings within the party had become incompatible with his Sikh faith.

He said that with Sikhs now recognising – even within parties like Labour – that they are often sidelined (as are our issues), perhaps it is time to start organising for Sikhs to stand for political positions as independents, using their Sikh ethics to guide their positioning.

The fifth question was: 

• In your opinion, what is in the best interest of Sikhs economically and socially, and how will voting your way help achieve this?

Shamsher Singh stated that parties should not tell us what is for our best interests, let us decide. “We need accountability from governments. India has a lack of this and Sikh dissent is criminal. Guru-orientedness of the Sikh psyche has gone and become state-centred”, advocating that by abstaining we could move towards a more Guru-centric approach to tackling issues and not rely on the state.

Sonam Kaur listed three issues which she thinks are inherently Sikh issues: “Human rights, destruction of life, and poverty.” Sonam concluded her point by requesting audience members to vote strategically and not for UKIP or the Conservatives.

Vijay Singh stated that “you need to help yourself before you help others” based on his interpretation of Sikhi. “If you help someone else first, you are just doing it for your pride”. He suggested Sikhs should make the UK independent to strengthen ourselves before moving to tackle other issues.

Other questions brought up through the audience included views from the panel on raids against Sikh activists which happened (according to Indian media) due to ‘diplomatic pressure’ from the Indian state on the UK, whilst there was also a request to learn more about how voting the ways advocated could help the issue of sexual grooming gangs targeting Sikh women.

In ending, an audience member encouraged all community members to conduct your research and apply Sikh interests before making any decision in the upcoming ballots.

The event concluded with a grateful nod to the participants in the panel, none of whom even requested expenses for attending, and also a thanks to the audience members for creating an environment to speak about the past, present and future of Sikh political engagement in the UK.