5 th April 2015 Sikh Council UK Executive Committee meeting took place in Ramgarhia Sabha, Coventry
11th April 2015 Representatives of Sikh Council UK attended the Vaisakhi in London event at City Hall organised by Ernest and Young Sikh Network / Singh Sabha Gurdwara Sahib, Barking and the Mayor of London.
During April the following local meetings have been held as part of the Sikh Council UK Engagement Programme Roadshow:
Saturday 4th April 2015 Gurdwara Nanaksar, Southampton
Sunday 5th April 2015 Ramgarhia Sikh Gurdwara, Slough
Saturday 11th April 2015 Ramgarhia Family Centre, Coventry
Sunday 12th April 2015 Gurdwara Singh Sabha, Northampton
Sunday 12th April 2015 Gurdwara Singh Sabha, Hitchin
Saturday 18th April 2015 Gurdwara Singh Sabha, Seven Kings
Sunday 19th April 2015 Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Reading
Sunday 19th April 2015 Gurdwara Singh Sabha, Southall
Topics covered included local priorities and the Voter Registration campaign.
16th April 2015 Ernest and Young Sikh Network hosted a live televised Panth Time in the Ernst & Young offices in the City of London with an all-female panel including Paramjit Kaur Matharu Managing Director, Global Indirect Tax Head at JPMorgan Chase and also Chair of European and International Affairs Committee of Sikh Council UK and Balvinder Kaur Sandhu General Secretary, Khalsa Aid and also Chair of Community Safety Committee of Sikh Council UK.
22nd April 2015 representatives of Sikh Council UK attended a London Boroughs Faith Network meeting with Scotland Yard for a briefing regarding safety for places of worship
Campaigns:
Following the recent announcement by the examining board, AQA, that they will cease offering Punjabi as a qualification at A-level in 2017 a campaign group including involvement from Punjabi language providers, Sikh schools, Sikh media, Gurdwaras, Jathebandis and Sikh Council UK has been established. As part of the campaign to reinstate A-level Punjabi and to increase uptake of GCSE and A-level Punjabi, Sikh Council UK has been tasked with liaising with politicians, AQA and other bodies. In order to raise awareness a petition, letter writing campaign and Sikh media work is ongoing. A paper is being produced which will detail the community response to the AQA decision as well as an action plan approach for community action to address concerns and to increase uptake of GCSE and A-level Punjabi. A draft version will be widely circulated in due course for community comments.
A film entitled ‘Nanak Shah Fakir’ was strongly objected to by the Sikh community and eventually withdrawn from showings in the UK following dialogue between the film producer and Sri Akaal Takhat Jathedar Sahib.
Sikh Council UK had issued a statement concerning the broader issue of depiction of Gurus, their families and historical Sikhs in films and in works of art.
Sikh Council UK has been approached by some members to engage with the Sikh Chaplaincy Service in prisons with a view to addressing concerns in relation to expectations of the users of the services and the community.
Sikh Council UK supported the campaign led by BSCF for requesting removal of Sri Harmandir Sahib, Amritsar for potential inclusion in the World Heritage List.
An approach was made to UNESCO asking them to remove the details from the tentative list. However, UNESCO responded that whilst the site of Sri Harmandir Sahib, Amritsar is included on the tentative list put forward by India since 2004, there is no current consideration for its inclusion on the World Heritage List nor have they received any such application for it to be considered. It was also confirmed that inclusion of sites in India for the tentative list are put forward by the Indian State and only they have the right to request removal of sites.
Media interaction was coordinated by a media consultant employed for this purpose and coverage
obtained included:
BBC News Online – Article is live: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-32118832
BBC Asian Network – News Bulletin: This ran every hour from 6am – 10pm on their
3minute news bulletin, mentioning Sikh Council UK
BBC Hindi – News Bulletin: This ran on their 3minute news bulletin, mentioning Sikh
Council UK
BBC World Service – News Bulletin: This ran on the news bulletin, mentioning Sikh
Council UK
Asian Image – Article is live:
http://www.asianimage.co.uk/news/11888593.Sikh_Council_welcomes_change_to_law_all
owing_turban_in_all_worlplaces/
Sikh Siyasat – Article is live: http://sikhsiyasat.net/2015/03/30/uks-new-employment-lawenables-sikhs-to-wear-turbans-in-all-workplaces/
Sikh News 24 – Article is live: http://www.sikh24.com/2015/03/30/uk-law-now-allowsturbans-in-all-workplaces/#.VRmogzvF9Hg
Quartz (Business blog) – Article is live: http://qz.com/372692/sikhs-in-the-uk-have-wonthe-right-to-wear-their-turbans-to-work/ – The blog has 137k twitter followers
Time of India – Article is live: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/other-news/End-ofturban-trouble-in-UK/articleshow/46776325.cms
Liberation Monde – French website:
http://www.liberation.fr/monde/2015/03/31/royaume-uni-les-sikhs-autorises-a-porter-leturban-quel-que-soit-leur-travail_1232215
India Economic Times: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/visa-andimmigration/new-uk-law-allows-turban-in-all-workplaces/articleshow/46762438.cms
Chandigarh Tribune: http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/world/new-uk-law-allows-turbanin-all-workplaces/60967.html
