British Sikh Federation

British Sikhs should be classified as a separate Ethnic Group

The BSF is urging Prime Minister Tony Blair to implement his commitment by providing equality of opportunity in the following areas: -

1. Include a separate ethnic group monitoring category of Sikh in the 2001 Census;
   
2. Include British Asian languages, in addition to just Gaelic languages, in the 2001 Census.

The Prime Minister has been asked to avoid the bureaucratic conservatism of the past, and to provide equality of opportunity. He should honour the commitment that was given on 28 September 1999 at the Bournemouth Labour Party Conference with action on the above 2 items, and not to let it just be political rhetoric. After all, British Asians have grown up in this country, been to the same schools, colleges, and universities as the Prime Minister, and deserve to be given equality of opportunity as well.

Other political parties recognise and accept that British Sikhs should be given equality of opportunity, and have a separate ethnic group monitoring category.

• Many Labour MPs and MEPs have written to the relevant Minister in support, e.g. Alan Donnelly MEP (Labour MEPs Leader), Dennis Turner MP, Bruce George MP, etc.
  

• All the other leading political parties have given their support, e.g. Richard Allan (Liberal Democrat Party), William Hague (Conservative Party), Edward McMillan-Scott (Conservative MEPs Chairman), Winfred Ewing (Scottish National Party), Dayfdd Wigley (Plaid Cymru)

The following are just a few of the supporting letters :-

David Martin MEP, Labour, Vice President of the European Parliament, letter to Minister:

" I respectfully urge you to consider the case for making Sikhs a separate ethnic group category. Such a move would be in line with recent House of Lords court decisions.

I believe the Sikh community in Britain have a strong case for such monitoring and I am sure revised categories can be put in place for the next Census in this regard."

Alan Donnelly MEP, Leader of Labour MEPs

"I do fully understand your concerns and hope that my action can help in some way towards the British Sikh Community having a separate ethnic monitoring category."

William Hague MP, Leader of the Conservative Party :

"We consider Sikhs to be a separate ethnic group and would support a revision of categories used for the next Census to reflect this."

Edward McMillan-Scott MEP, Chairman of Conservative MEPs

"I am happy to confirm my support for Britain’s Sikh Community to be separately identified in ethnic monitoring."

John Stevens MEP, Conservative Party :

"I thoroughly agree with the comments you make and with the House of Lords court decision that Sikhs are an ethnic group which should have a monitoring category of its own."

Richard Allan MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on Community Relations :

"… which I believe justifies the inclusion of Sikhs as a separate ethnic group, a view upheld by The House of Lords. The British Sikh Community is a population of about 600,000 and merit recognition of their ethnic status."

Robin Teverson MEP, Liberal Democrat, letter to Minister :

"I am persuaded that they have a strong case, the details of which I am sure you are already aware, for the creation of such a category, and that, given this background, their numbers alone warrant their recognition as a separate ethnic minority."

DrWinifred Ewing MEP, President Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) :

"I have supported your cause consistently"

Dafydd Wigley MP, President of Plaid Cymru (Welsh Nationalists Party) :

"I personally believe that the most appropriate way of pressing the issue is to persuade the Government Minister to include the changes in the next Census. That would then lead to local authorities and other bodies taking note of the matter."

• The highest court in the country, House of Lords, has accepted that Sikhs are an ethnic group, on the basis of ethnic origins based on a common geographical origin or descent, a common language, a common literature, a long shared history, a separate identity distinguished from other groups, a separate alphabet, historical political sovereignty, etc. The House of Lords clearly rejected that Sikhs were just a religious group, but held that Sikhs were also an ethnic group.
  

• Some 1.5 million Sikh officers and soldiers served to defend Great Britain during both World Wars, and helped to liberate European, African, and Asian countries; some 83,005 Sikhs gave up their lives, whilst 109,045 were wounded. Many Sikhs were awarded Victoria Crosses for their bravery during both World Wars. We made the highest contribution of all the ethnic minority groups now settled in the UK.
  

• The 600,000 British Sikh Community is larger than many of the other monitored groups and deserves to be fairly treated, e.g. the 1991 Census figures give Black-African (212,000), Other Black (178,000), Pakistani (477,000), Bangladeshi (163,000), Chinese (157,000). This helps them to get jobs, promotions, and service delivery since they are monitored as separate ethnic groups. The British Sikh Community also needs to be monitored as a separate ethnic group, since this effects our jobs, promotions, and service delivery by Government departments and employers.
  

• The British Sikh Community can be easily monitored as an ethnic group, and responsible organisations have done so, e.g. Hertfordshire County Council, West Midlands Police, South Bucks (near Slough) Council, British Energy, and Birmingham City Council for delivery of services
  

• We need to have a separate ethnic group category since it is used by employers for monitoring and job setting targets; employers do not use religious categories for such purposes. The British Sikh Community cannot accept that we should have to write out our ethnic identity under the "other" box, whilst other smaller ethnic groups have their own unique boxes.
  

• More than half of the British Sikh Community have been born or have grown up in the UK, and approx. 80% of Sikhs settled in the UK have British nationality instead of Indian nationality, and this proportion is increasing all the time.
  

• A language is the soul of the community, and British Asian languages should not be wiped out through assimilation; we do not want to experience having our languages wiped out, as happened with the Welsh, Gaelic, and Celtic languages previously. Special efforts are now being made for Welsh, Gaelic, and Celtic languages (see BBC 1 Ceefax, 8 June 99), and the same should be done for British Asian languages. One of the first steps is to include our Asian languages in the 2001 Census.
  

• With regard to Gaelic languages. ex-BBC Director Alasdair Milne is to head a task force to look at the feasibility of a Gaelic TV channel. The new Scottish Parliament’s deputy Minister for the Highlands and Islands and Gaelic, Alasdair Morrison, said broadcasting was "vitally important"; he confirmed that the new Parliament would ensure a secure status for Gaelic. He went on to stress that the future of Gaelic lay in the hands of the family, and announced plans for a Gaelic school.

The Punjabi language should be included in the list, since it is used by 70% of all Indians and Pakistanis resident in the UK; if others wish to, then Urdu, Gujarati, and Hindi could be added as well, although they are used by very much fewer persons as shown by previous surveys published by the Government Office for National Statistics.

Official Figures

Government Office for National Statistics for people living in Britain :

Pakistani – main language spoken – Punjabi: 48%, Urdu: 24%, English: 22%

Indian – religion – Sikh: 51%, Hindu: 33%, Muslim: 6%, Christian: 5%

Hindi is spoken by 2% of Indians

Government Dept for Education and Employment letter dated 5 Nov 99 :

GSE examinations in 1998 - Panjabi : 1,686 Hindi : 0 Gujarati : 1,147

A Level examinations in 1998 – Panjabi : 262 Hindi : 22 Gujarati : 0

Commission for Racial Discrimination

The latest 1999 data from the Commission for Racial equality states that Punjabi is the most commonly spoken language among British Asians, which includes 95% of all Sikhs and 74% of all Pakistanis.

Punjabi is the 2^nd language in England, and is used by some 1.3 million people by Indians, Pakistanis and Sikhs living in the UK.