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Important: Can The Office For National Statistics Be Trusted With The 2011 Census? Special Report Released In The Uk Today & Special Live Programme...


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All Sikhs (especially in the UK) should watch the live programme to be aired on The Sikh Channel (Sky 840) tonight at 7.30pm (UK Time). The special report for the UK Census 2011 has now been released and is available on

www.SikhFederation.com for download. It will be discussed during the special live programme on The Sikh Channel tonight.

SPECIAL LIVE REPORT ON 2011 CENSUS

The Sikh Channel

Sky 840

7.30pm

This is a reminder further to the following Press Release by the Sikh Federation (UK) in the topic

SIKH FEDERATION (UK)

PRESS RELEASE

Sunday 31 January 2010

CAN THE OFFICE FOR NATIONAL STATISTICS BE TRUSTED WITH THE 2011 CENSUS?

1. The Sikh Federation (UK) will be releasing a report on Monday 1 February 2010 following research it commissioned on the selection of new ethnic groups for the Census 2011.

2. The investigative report provides evidence to show how the option of an 'Arab' category has been incorrectly favoured compared to other categories, including a 'Sikh' category.

3. The authors of the report allege a pre-determined outcome to include an 'Arab' category without sufficient evidence to support this conclusion.

4. The report emphasises a Sikh category has been overlooked despite Sikhs constituting one of very few legally recognised ethnic groups.

5. Parliament will in mid-February vote on the Regulation to approve the Census 2011 and in effect put a seal on the draft questionnaire.

6. The report proves the methodology used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) ignored the views of hundreds of Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum supporting the Sikh community in their demand and paid lip service to its own public consultation on the issue that showed considerable support for a separate Sikh category.

7. Evidence is also presented in the report that shows ONS omitted vital information, misinterpreted other information it had available and did not fully consider other relevant evidence to arrive at accurate conclusions.

8. The Sikh Federation (UK) is calling on MPs and ONS to consider the findings and recommendations in the report relating to each aspect of the ONS methodology to select ethnic groups for the 2011 Census questionnaire and for ONS to urgently revisit its overall assessment in light of the report.

9. In the Federation's opinion the report proposes the ONS gives the 'Sikh' category priority over the proposed 'Arab' category for the Census 2011 questionnaire.

10. The report suggests major flaws in the process to select ethnic groups for the 2011 Census questionnaire and raises wider issues of trust and the need for improved governance at ONS.

11. The Federation has also shared the report with lawyers to consider possible legal action. There is also talk of a call for a possible postponement in the 2011 Census; until trust in the process is restored, otherwise the information produced will not be a true reflection of British society or fit for purpose. The latter would also save tens of millions of pounds during the economic downturn.

Gurjeet Singh

National Press Secretary

Note 1: The report will be released on Monday 1 February 2010. A copy can be obtained by emailing: info@sikhfederation.com

Note 2: The Sikh Channel will have a Special Live programme at 7.30pm (UK time) on Monday 1 February. Please listen and find out what you can do.

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Please immediately send the following email to your MP by using: http://www.writetothem.com/

Dear [MP’s name]

Census 2011 – Sikh ethnic group monitoring

I am writing to you to take urgent action on behalf of the Sikh community with regards to the Census 2011 and appreciate previous efforts in this regards.

On Monday 1 February the Sikh Federation (UK) released a report (http://www.sikhfederation.com/pdf/SikhsCensusJan2010.pdf) commissioned to look at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) process to select ethnic groups for the 2011 Census questionnaire. An urgent meeting has been requested with Jil Matheson, the National Statistician, to discuss the findings and recommendations.

The evidence-based report demonstrates the need for ONS to change the draft questionnaire for the Census 2011 and include a separate tick box for Sikhs for the ethnic group question.

An article has appeared in the Independent on Tuesday 2 February (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/census-2011-heavy-metals-not-music-its-a-religion-1886350.html) following the report. ONS have stated in the article it has not yet finalised the ethnic group question.

We therefore urge you to write to the Jil Matheson at the ONS and

i) request her to urgently meet Sikh representatives to discuss the findings and recommendations contained in the report;

ii) enquire how the views of elected representatives will be taken into account as regards the ethnic group question, as over 200 MPs from across the political spectrum have supported the need for Sikhs to be monitored separately as regards ethnicity;

iii) ask her to respond to the systematic failings in the process to select ethnic groups for the 2011 Census questionnaire highlighted in the report; and

iv) seek an assurance that the findings and recommendations contained in the report are given priority and acted upon in finalising the Census 2011 questionnaire.

The Press Release issued by the Sikh Federation (UK) when launching the report is attached for information.

[Your name]

[Your address]

CAN THE OFFICE FOR NATIONAL STATISTICS BE TRUSTED WITH THE 2011 CENSUS?

1. The Sikh Federation (UK) will be releasing a report on Monday 1 February 2010 following research it commissioned on the selection of new ethnic groups for the Census 2011.

2. The investigative report provides evidence to show how the option of an ‘Arab’ category has been incorrectly favoured compared to other categories, including a ‘Sikh’ category.

3. The authors of the report allege a pre-determined outcome to include an ‘Arab’ category without sufficient evidence to support this conclusion.

4. The report emphasises a Sikh category has been overlooked despite Sikhs constituting one of very few legally recognised ethnic groups.

5. Parliament will in mid-February vote on the Regulation to approve the Census 2011 and in effect put a seal on the draft questionnaire.

6. The report proves the methodology used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) ignored the views of hundreds of Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum supporting the Sikh community in their demand and paid lip service to its own public consultation on the issue that showed considerable support for a separate Sikh category.

7. Evidence is also presented in the report that shows ONS omitted vital information, misinterpreted other information it had available and did not fully consider other relevant evidence to arrive at accurate conclusions.

8. The Sikh Federation (UK) is calling on MPs and ONS to consider the findings and recommendations in the report relating to each aspect of the ONS methodology to select ethnic groups for the 2011 Census questionnaire and for ONS to urgently revisit its overall assessment in light of the report.

9. In the Federation’s opinion the report proposes the ONS gives the ‘Sikh’ category priority over the proposed ‘Arab’ category for the Census 2011 questionnaire.

10. The report suggests major flaws in the process to select ethnic groups for the 2011 Census questionnaire and raises wider issues of trust and the need for improved governance at ONS.

11. The Federation has also shared the report with lawyers to consider possible legal action. There is also talk of a call for a possible postponement in the 2011 Census; until trust in the process is restored, otherwise the information produced will not be a true reflection of British society or fit for purpose. The latter would also save tens of millions of pounds during the economic downturn.

Gurjeet Singh

National Press Secretary

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i dont get this, why do sikhs want to be classed as an ethnic group rather than a faith/religion. surely it defies the point!

is this a good thing or bad for the panth, i think it doesnt help us being an ethnic group.

We are already classed as a faith/religion.

Ethnic group classification is linked to the Mandla v Lee case in the House of Lords from early 1980s.

The Mandla v Lee case involved a Sikh boy being allowed to wear his dastaar to school !

Sant Jarnail Singh refers to the victory in this case in one of his speeches.

The victory in the Kara case in the High Court a couple of years ago for the 14-year old school girl was also due to this classification for Sikhs.

In other words there are huge advantages for Sikhs to be defined as an ethnic group AS WELL AS a faith/religion.

So when we answer the OPTIONAL religous question we can tick SIKH

However, when we answer the MANDATORY ethnic origin question ONS expect over 90% of us to tick INDIAN and others to tick WHITE, PAKISTANI etc.

As the report states in 2001 56% of all Sikhs were found to be born in the UK - this may have increased to 60-70% 10 years later. Why should Sikhs born in the UK have to tick the INDIAN ethnic box?

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i dont get this, why do sikhs want to be classed as an ethnic group rather than a faith/religion. surely it defies the point!

is this a good thing or bad for the panth, i think it doesnt help us being an ethnic group.

We are already classed as a faith/religion.

Ethnic group classification is linked to the Mandla v Lee case in the House of Lords from early 1980s.

The Mandla v Lee case involved a Sikh boy being allowed to wear his dastaar to school !

Sant Jarnail Singh refers to the victory in this case in one of his speeches.

The victory in the Kara case in the High Court a couple of years ago for the 14-year old school girl was also due to this classification for Sikhs.

In other words there are huge advantages for Sikhs to be defined as an ethnic group AS WELL AS a faith/religion.

So when we answer the OPTIONAL religous question we can tick SIKH

However, when we answer the MANDATORY ethnic origin question ONS expect over 90% of us to tick INDIAN and others to tick WHITE, PAKISTANI etc.

As the report states in 2001 56% of all Sikhs were found to be born in the UK - this may have increased to 60-70% 10 years later. Why should Sikhs born in the UK have to tick the INDIAN ethnic box?

Good explanation. But I still think this get's us into a messy situation for the long term. Yes we are a quam - a nation, and distinct and seperate. But we are a religion and not an ethnicity.

You wouldn't expect an Arab (ethnicity) to want to be Arab (religion). Sikh isn't an ethnicity it's a faith. Panjabi is an ethnicity - wouldn't that be better suited!?

What I'm trying to get at is to say that we always seem to fight the wrong fights. This to me seems a pointless exercise in box ticking.

Isn't it better to divest these energies into ensuring ALL Sikhs fill in the Sikh religious box? Or fill the census in the first place! Or don't put jedi as their religion!

Besides, Mandla Vs Lee understood Sikh to be an ethnicity within the understanding of the race relations act. It doesnt mean we are one, it means the law should treat us as distinct.

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The Independent

February 2, 2010

Census 2011: 'Heavy metal's not music. It's a religion'

By Jerome Taylor, Religious Affairs Correspondent

As next year's census nears, head-bangers are among the groups demanding special recognition

The preparation for next year's census is in full swing, but the jostling and politicking about who and what will be counted in the population survey is already causing serious headaches.

This time next year, every adult in England and Wales will receive a questionnaire for what is expected to be the longest and most detailed census ever conducted.

Costing £500m, it will paint a precise portrait of who and what makes up our nation - which is why a litany of special interest groups, from the serious to the absurd, are agitating for their vision of what the form should look like and which questions should be asked.

Sikh groups, for instance, want to be recognised as an individual race and not just a religion. And at the sillier end of the spectrum, heavy metal enthusiasts have begun an online campaign to get their head-banging music genre recognised as a religion. For analysts at the Office for National Statistics (ONS), meeting everyone's aspirations will be all but impossible.

A population census has been carried out in Great Britain every 10 years since 1801, except for 1941, during the Second World War. As the cultural and ethnic make-up of the country changed, so did the questions. Following devolution, separate surveys were carried out in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

In 1991, citizens in England and Wales were asked for the first time to describe their ethnic origin, with 16 options including a catch-all "other" box for those whose races were not included. Ten years later, respondents were asked their religious affiliation. But not everyone is happy with the way race has been categorised. People of Middle Eastern, Latin American or South-east Asian origin, for instance, have to tick the "other" box.

This week, the Sikh Federation will urge the ONS to include Sikhs as an individual race, after their community won a High Court battle in the 1980s to be officially recognised as a race under British law.

Jagtar Singh, a federation member, said the request was more than just a point of principle. "Information taken from the census is used by 40,000 government bodies to work out where resources should go and how they can be allocated," he said. "If Sikhs are missed off in 2011 we will have to wait yet another decade, perhaps longer, before we are properly recognised."

The ONS has said that because of financial constraints it will only be adding two ethnicity boxes to the census. It has yet to state what these will be but a test questionnaire three years ago included the terms "Arab" and "Irish traveller/ gypsy", suggesting that Sikhs may miss out this time around.

Mr Singh said: "We want Sikhs to be included for positive reasons but the Government looks set to collect data or Arabs and travellers to keep a closer eye on them."

Opposition MPs believe the census will be too expensive and intrusive. The shadow Cabinet Office minister, Francis Maude, said last week: "How can a cost of £500m, which is double the cost of the last census, be justified at this time of fiscal crisis?"

The Government hit back, saying a detailed census enabled future administrations to allocate money more efficiently, adding £700m to the economy. Others will no doubt use the census to cause mischief. In 2001, an online campaign launched by Star Wars fans encouraged people to list their religion as "Jedi" so that it had to be officially recognised. Parliament quickly changed the law - but not before 390,000 "Jedi" adherents signed up.

This year, social networking sites could throw another spanner in the works at the ONS. A Facebook group asking for heavy metal to be made a religion has attracted 14,000 members in two weeks. "It's not meant to offend anyone. It's just a bit of fun," said Alexander Milas, editor of Metal Hammer magazine. "But then again, maybe we are trying to make a point."

Source: http://www.independe...on-1886350.html

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Please immediately send the following email to your MP by using: http://www.writetothem.com/

Dear [MP’s name]

Census 2011 – Sikh ethnic group monitoring

I am writing to you to take urgent action on behalf of the Sikh community with regards to the Census 2011 and appreciate previous efforts in this regards.

On Monday 1 February the Sikh Federation (UK) released a report (http://www.sikhfederation.com/pdf/SikhsCensusJan2010.pdf) commissioned to look at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) process to select ethnic groups for the 2011 Census questionnaire. An urgent meeting has been requested with Jil Matheson, the National Statistician, to discuss the findings and recommendations.

The evidence-based report demonstrates the need for ONS to change the draft questionnaire for the Census 2011 and include a separate tick box for Sikhs for the ethnic group question.

An article has appeared in the Independent on Tuesday 2 February (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/census-2011-heavy-metals-not-music-its-a-religion-1886350.html) following the report. ONS have stated in the article it has not yet finalised the ethnic group question.

We therefore urge you to write to the Jil Matheson at the ONS and

i) request her to urgently meet Sikh representatives to discuss the findings and recommendations contained in the report;

ii) enquire how the views of elected representatives will be taken into account as regards the ethnic group question, as over 200 MPs from across the political spectrum have supported the need for Sikhs to be monitored separately as regards ethnicity;

iii) ask her to respond to the systematic failings in the process to select ethnic groups for the 2011 Census questionnaire highlighted in the report; and

iv) seek an assurance that the findings and recommendations contained in the report are given priority and acted upon in finalising the Census 2011 questionnaire.

The Press Release issued by the Sikh Federation (UK) when launching the report is attached for information.

[Your name]

[Your address]

CAN THE OFFICE FOR NATIONAL STATISTICS BE TRUSTED WITH THE 2011 CENSUS?

1. The Sikh Federation (UK) will be releasing a report on Monday 1 February 2010 following research it commissioned on the selection of new ethnic groups for the Census 2011.

2. The investigative report provides evidence to show how the option of an ‘Arab’ category has been incorrectly favoured compared to other categories, including a ‘Sikh’ category.

3. The authors of the report allege a pre-determined outcome to include an ‘Arab’ category without sufficient evidence to support this conclusion.

4. The report emphasises a Sikh category has been overlooked despite Sikhs constituting one of very few legally recognised ethnic groups.

5. Parliament will in mid-February vote on the Regulation to approve the Census 2011 and in effect put a seal on the draft questionnaire.

6. The report proves the methodology used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) ignored the views of hundreds of Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum supporting the Sikh community in their demand and paid lip service to its own public consultation on the issue that showed considerable support for a separate Sikh category.

7. Evidence is also presented in the report that shows ONS omitted vital information, misinterpreted other information it had available and did not fully consider other relevant evidence to arrive at accurate conclusions.

8. The Sikh Federation (UK) is calling on MPs and ONS to consider the findings and recommendations in the report relating to each aspect of the ONS methodology to select ethnic groups for the 2011 Census questionnaire and for ONS to urgently revisit its overall assessment in light of the report.

9. In the Federation’s opinion the report proposes the ONS gives the ‘Sikh’ category priority over the proposed ‘Arab’ category for the Census 2011 questionnaire.

10. The report suggests major flaws in the process to select ethnic groups for the 2011 Census questionnaire and raises wider issues of trust and the need for improved governance at ONS.

11. The Federation has also shared the report with lawyers to consider possible legal action. There is also talk of a call for a possible postponement in the 2011 Census; until trust in the process is restored, otherwise the information produced will not be a true reflection of British society or fit for purpose. The latter would also save tens of millions of pounds during the economic downturn.

Gurjeet Singh

National Press Secretary

Can those sending letters to MPs

Firstly, confirm which MPs have been contacted; and

Secondly, if the MP has written to the ONS

Much has happened today (2 February) with and inside the ONS - which we will share in due course.

We really need Sikhs up and down the country to write to MPs and exert pressure on them to write to the ONS and act on the findings and recommendations in the report.

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