Over Seas » Sikh News

UK Sikhs release own ‘Manifesto’, Targets 50 seats for British Parliamentary elections

February 4, 2015 | By Sikh Siyasat Bureau

London: A ‘get west London’ reports says: [f]or the first time ever the British Sikh community have launched a campaign targeting 50 seats, including three in west London for the 2015 general election.

Hundreds of people from Gurdwaras and UK Sikh organisations attended a campaign launch in support of a 10-point manifesto at the Sri Guru Singh Sabha in Southall, on Saturday (Jan 31).

The Sikh Federation (UK) has marked marginal seats in Feltham, Heston, Brentford and Isleworth, in Hounslow, as well as Ealing and Southall, in Ealing, where significant proportions of the voting population are Sikh.

Bhai Amrik Singh, Sikh Federation (UK) chairman, said: “Our manifesto topics are of such importance to the British Sikh community that the response of parties and candidates to them will determine how many in the community vote.

Also read: The Sikh Manifesto 2015-2020

“We are making the most of our voting clout through targeting seats and publishing a manifesto for the first time.

“We are looking for firm commitments from each political party on the big issues.

“For the purposes of supporting the Sikh Manifesto we have drawn a line at the 50 target seats.

“There are however other marginal seats, such as Nuneaton and Manchester, Withington, where the local Sikh vote although relatively small will matter.

“In addition, there also numerous safe seats, such as Birmingham, Selly Oak; Ealing Central & Acton; Huddersfield; Leicester South; Ealing North; Birmingham, Ladywood; East Ham and Barking that each have thousands of Sikh voters who cannot be ignored.”

The manifesto was developed during a three-day National Sikh Convention in Wolverhampton in September last year.

The 10-point manifesto:

• A statutory code of practice on items of the Sikh faith in order to prevent discrimination in the workplace and public spaces
• An independent inquiry into the actions of the British Government in relation to the Amritsar and Delhi massacres of 1984
• UK Government recognition of the events of June and November 1984 as Sikh Genocide and backing from the permanent members of the UN Security Council for a UN-led inquiry into the actions of the Indian authorities
• Allocation of a suitable site in central London for a permanent monument to Sikh’s who lost their lives in the First World War
• More effective Sikh representation in the Houses of Parliament
• A separate ethnic tick box for Sikhs in the 2021 Census and public bodies
• Determined UK Government action against perpetrators of grooming and forced conversions and the media abandoning the throwaway term ‘Asian’
• Support for a network of publicly funded Sikh ethos schools
• UK Government working with other governments to exert pressure on France (and Belgium) to honour decisions by the UNHRC with respect to discrimination against turban wearing Sikhs
• Recognition and support for the Sikhs right to self-determination given the historic and moral responsibility of the UK Government towards Sikhs
• Labour’s Ed Miliband said: “I think the Sikh Manifesto 2015-2020, written by the Sikh Federation UK, demonstrates the commitment of British Sikhs to be actively involved with the political process, and is a great way of empowering the British Sikh community.”

UK’s Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, said: “I warmly welcome the Sikh Federation’s ambition to encourage the British Sikh community to engage with politics at all levels and I congratulate the federation for all the hard work it has already done to increase the awareness and importance of social and political activism within the British Sikh community.”

Tweet

---

To Get Sikh Siyasat News Alerts via WhatsApp:

(1) Save Our WhatsApp Number 0091-855-606-7689 to your phone contacts; and
(2) Send us Your Name via WhatsApp. Click Here to Send WhatsApp Message Now.

Sikh Siyasat is on Telegram Now. Subscribe to our Telegram Channel

---

Related Topics: Sikh Diaspora, Sikh Federation UK, Sikh Manifesto, Sikhs in United Kingdom

Leave a Reply