May 2012 Bulletin 17 Ji Ka , Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

Meetings

8th May 2012- Four members of the Executive Committee met with three officers of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to discuss the issue of death sentence in India and ongoing concerns relating to the routine practice of torture and lack of justice for the victims of the 1984-1995 genocide. Two streams of work have emerged as a result of this meeting for the Indian Subcontinent Affairs Committee of the Council.

12th May 2012 - The 3rd meeting of Board of Jathedars of the Council took place at Sri Guru Harkrishan Ji Sahib, Leicester.

12th May 2012- The 4th General Assembly meeting of the Council took place at Sri Guru Harkrishan Ji Gurdwara Sahib, Leicester.

Case Work

5th May 2012 – SCUK was contacted for urgent intervention when a group of travelling to Barcelona for an Amrit Sancharan were called back to security just as they about to board the plane from Luton Airport. The concerns from security were that the scanners revealed undeclared Kirpans in the ‘checked in’ luggage. The Kirpans were put into one luggage case which gave rise to concern for the large number of them. The matter was resolved as the Sikhs travelling were able to explain the purpose of the large number of ceremonial Kirpans. It materialised that the Sikhs were alarmed by the security response as they had experienced similar approaches when they travelled from East Midlands Airport not too many weeks earlier. A lesson derived was that it was best to advice at the check in stage that there are Kirpans in the checked in cases. As can be appreciated due to London 2012 Games there are going to more checks as well as more thorough ones.

9th May 2012 – SCUK was contacted by an Amritdhari Sikh who was an agency worker at Tescos. He was suspended when his Kirpan was exposed whilst he was working. The matter was resolved soon after SCUK left a message for senior managers indicating we were a national organisation and that we were made aware of the individual’s concerns. The lesson drawn from this and similar cases is that there is still lack of knowledge and appreciation of the right to wear the Kirpan. A small Kirpan worn discretely is probably the best way forward as the public, employers and educational establishments’ awareness increases. There is considerable public concern about knife crime and regrettably the Kirpan gets confused with a weapon and use of terms such as dagger, small sword and knife are unhelpful.

10th May 2012 - SCUK was contacted by an individual in Germany raising concerns about Nagar taking place in Munchen, Germany in which the Panj Piare do not hold Kirpans. Clearly the person felt that the Gurdwara Sahib in question could do more in addressing this matter with the local council and implementing this rather than readily accepting it as a decision. The person was provided details of Frankfurt and other local Gurdwara sahibs to discuss this with them in terms of local authority requirements and be guided by what they may do there.

10th May 2012- SCUK was contacted by family services solicitors in Spain with a query about services available with Seville where a Sikh child was due to be placed. The solicitor was preparing a court report in which he wished to demonstrate how well the child’s cultural and religious needs would be met. Solicitor was put in touch with Guru Sahib (Sikh Temple) in Barcelona Spain where Bhaji Gurmit Singh Ji kindly offered to assist. The heart- warming message we received from the solicitor for our assistance was: ‘I cannot thank you enough for your assistance with this matter. I appreciate you have gone above and beyond and am very grateful’.

SCUK Leadership members have been dealing two separate Kakaar incidents in Leeds. Firstly, Sikh students at a north Leeds comprehensive school unable to attend school with their Kirpan, until that is they progress to Sixth Form. The Head teacher and Chair of Governors for this school are laying blame on advice they secured from the local city council. Secondly, a north Leeds family has reported Kesh incident involving their son at another Leeds school. With the support of the North East Leeds MP, an urgent meeting with Nigel Richardson, the Director of Children's Services in Leeds, has been secured to review both cases.

14th May 2012 – SCUK was contacted by a concerned parent who’s daughter and son-in- law travelled to Rome and were extremely disappointed by the way Italian security at the airport treat the Sikh turban. They were refused entry until the turban was removed and searched. It was concerning to hear the search was not undertaken in a respectful manner. Security apparently refused to use the hand held detector and insisted on the removal of the turban for search in a separate room.

17th May 2012- SCUK was contacted by an individual wishing to take proactive measures in preparing for travel from Toronto to Milan. The individual was aware that due to lack of search devices at Malpensa Airport they could envisage problems. We provided the person with European Airport search guidelines so that they could present these at time of search

18th May 2012- Being aware that some members of SCUK were due to travel to events in Italy in the coming days. We took proactive measure by equipping the individuals with European Airport search guidelines so they too could present these at time of searches if required.

18th May 2012-SCUK was contacted by a honey moon couple on holiday in the Maldives they were stopped by Airport Security for having a Kirpan in their ‘hold all’ luggage. Despite all efforts by the couple to help the Airport security staff to understand the reasons for carrying having the Kirpans. The Kirpans were seized from the couple by the security officers who were not open to any reasoning. SCUK made contact with the High Commission in both UK and Madlives as well as with Aviation Authority in raising our concerns and urgently securing the safe return of the Kirpans to the couple as soon as possible. The Kirpans were returned to the couple on their arrival to the airport for departure.

31st May 2012 – SCUK: Community Safety Committee released a statement Re: The case of alleged rape, blackmail and assault of a Sikh girl in Luton. Statement expressed sincere sympathy and solidarity with the young Sikh girl and her family who has been a victim of

this horrific crime. We welcomed the news of the arrest and charges on the alleged individual. SCUK urged the Sikh community to continue to work in the calm and peaceful manner in which they have thus far maintained during this difficult time. A letter offering support and assistance was also sent from Sikh Council to the family of the victim and sevadars currently working with the family.

Indian Sub-Continent Affairs Committee Update

12th May 2012, the co-chairs for the Indian Sub-Continent Affairs Committee both attended and supported the Kesri Lehr petition campaign weekly update meeting hosted by the Kesri Lehr team at the Sangat TV studios in Birmingham, a part of which included a live on air presentation encouraging the UK Sangat to actively engage with community at large, especially neighbours and work colleagues from all ethnic backgrounds.

Sports Sub-Continent Committee Update

16th May 2012, the General Assembly (GA) members were invited to participate, working in collaboration with an established SCUK partner, namely Sporting Equals. GA members are required to respond promptly by completing and returning the attached questionnaire.

This research activity seeks to explore which Gurdware Sahibs are:

a. Currently offering sports and/or physical activity b. Which have facilities that can be used for sports and/or physical activity.

Please note, Sporting Equals is a trusted party who are hoping by doing this research to influence some funding towards the faith centre’s to enable greater sports participation and physical activity as a means of promoting improved wellbeing for the communities.

In order avoid to disappointment, please act immediately on this humble request by returning to us your completed questionnaires.

23rd May 2012- A list of Olympics 2012 Torch Bearers from the Sikh Community was circulated widely with a request for people to attend locally and show support and encouragement to those that may come within their areas for their achievement.

Panjabi e-learning project

Great News the Panjabi e-Learning Project is now ready and live. On the 12th and 13th May 2012 a short presentation was delivered of the project by the Panjabi e-learning team on how to take up membership at Karamsar Panjabi School and Brent Sikh Centre London. We urge Panjabi Schools and individuals to get in touch for information about this innovative and new exciting way of learning Panjabi.

It has also come to light that interest has also been shown for the project by Panjabi Schools in Australia and Toronto these are being followed up.

Staffing

10th May 2012. There was a positive response to the advertisement for the position of a member of staff based in London to work with the political establishment and related agencies. From a strong field 4 candidates were short listed and with one dropping out at the interview stage 3 were interviewed at the Shepherds Bush Gurdwara Sahib by Sukhvinder Singh, Dabinderjit Singh and Balvinder Kaur. We are pleased to welcome Navtaij Singh to the Sikh Council team.