On a sunny, windy day in a large sports field in northwest London a troupe of Gatka artists from the Akal Sahai school in South London—young and old, male and female—came together for a striking performance whirling swords, sticks, shields and spiked iron balls.
This was part of the Baisakhi celebrations, organised by the Indian High Commission to mark the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh. While large Baisakhi celebrations are nothing new to Britain, this event, which drew an estimated crowd of 18,000, and included performances by Jasbir Jassi, and bhangra musician Channi Singh, brought together 13 gurudwaras from across London as well as community organisations. It marked a potentially significant shift in relations between India and Britain’s Sikh community.
Reaching out
Relations have not always been easy since the army operation that cleared the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar of Sikh militants more than 30 years ago and in 2015 a ‘Sikh Lives Matter’ demonstration outside the High Commission turned violent. Since then efforts have been made to normalise relations, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting with some leaders of the Sikh community later that year during his visit to London. High Commissioner Y.K. Sinha wore a saffron turban and told the crowd the event would become an annual event.
The High Commission’s decision to reach out to gurudwaras across the political spectrum seems to have been welcomed by those within the community who have, to date, had limited contact with it. Inderpal Singh Malhi of the Singh Sabha in Barking, East London—which helped organise many of the events, including kabaddi matches and langar at the event—said that it had been the first time that the High Commission had reached out to its community in the way that it had. “This is a very positive step, a good effort…we hope it can help unite the community,” he said.
The event also included gurudwaras from other communities, including the influential Guru Nanak Darbar from Southall, set up by Afghani Sikhs, whose pavilion attracted a steady stream of visitors for hot pakoras. Standing by was one of its leaders, Rajinder Singh Soni, who said he was hopeful that the initiative would continue to help build relations within the community that had been fragmented to date.
‘Invisible’
Britain’s Sikh community is around 4,32,000 strong (or around 0.7% of the British population) according to the most recent census, but continues to face discrimination, with a U.K. Sikh Survey last year warning that the community was “invisible” to decision makers and politicians, despite the fact that one in seven had faced workplace discrimination and an even higher percentage had faced discrimination in public places.
A large community
“It’s very significant bringing all the communities together—this can help it address issues of confidence and the myths some people have about certain professions… We hope we can build confidence and improve numbers in different professions and that we can get the message out there that there are people willing to address concerns,” said Inspector Surinderjit Mahal of the Metropolitan Police, which also participated in the event, along with the Army.
“Our community has sometimes been fragmented along the lines of ethnicity, religion or state so we’ve not always been able to reap the benefits of being such a large community,” said Dinesh Patnaik, Deputy High Commissioner in London. “We may have different issues that we take up but there will always be a number of fundamental issues—trade, immigration—that affect all of us and if we can get together that will be a big thing.”
