UK MP that spoke against #FreeJaggiNow and #FarmersProtest funded by Indian nationalist supporters

Conservative Party MP Bob Blackman has been found to be taking money from organisations that support Hindutva (Hindu extremist) groups BJP and the RSS, confirming a long-held belief in Sikh activist circles.

Blackman has been found to have taken at least £22k from “organisations tied to Hindutva militants” according to a Byline Times investigation released this week. Blackman has been called out by Sikhs in recent times for regurgitating Indian state propaganda on both the #FarmersProtest in 2021 and the #FreeJaggiNow issue just last month.

Blackman is the MP for Harrow East. Harrow is an area some refer to as “mini-Gujarat”, due to its demographics which includes a significant Hindu community. Notorious Indian nationalist far-right figures MP Priti Patel and India’s PM Narendra Modi are of Gujarati origin, with Modi once being Chief Minister of the state, during a period which also saw him oversee the infamous anti-Muslim Gujarat massacres, leading to him being banned from entering many countries in the west. Modi heads India’s ultra-fascist BJP party and is also a member of Hindutva paramilitary extremist group RSS, a group that Priti Patel has openly supported, part of the reason she is viewed by many as anti-Sikh.

The Byline Times investigation found Blackman had taken “donations” from the likes of the Indian High Commission of the UK, Sewa International (the charity branch of the RSS) and the International Siddhashram Shakti Centre (a group affiliated with the Overseas Friends of the BJP group).

As mentioned, for years Sikh activists in the UK have stated Blackman’s influence from Indian nationalist groups is obvious, especially given his cartoonish support of the BJP (see video below). This is believed to have been behind his sharing of a factsheet on the #FarmersProtest which was pushing an Indian State narrative, as well as his comments reminding parliament that Scottish Sikh political prisoner Jagtar ‘Jaggi’ Singh Johal was allegedly a member of a Khalistan group banned in India, leading to Jaggi’s local MP Martin Docherty-Hughes to state Blackman was acting as a “spokesperson for a foreign country” (India).

Speaking on the issue, Sikh Press Association Senior Press Officer Jasveer Singh said “Sikh activist circles have noted obvious Indian state influence in UK politics for years. Often this works through not only open support for India’s fascist politicians and national groups, but also in condemnation of Sikh activism, both of which Blackman has displayed.

“The findings on Blackman will thus not be surprising to many in the community. However, it is important to note the trade deals the UK has with India extends this influence through all of British politics to some extent or another, whether it can be provable through donations or not. Sikh activist circles recognise this influence regardless, largely because it is used to push a ‘Sikh extremism’ narrative which validates the UK’s targeting of Sikh activists, evident through the #WestMidlands3 case and more.”