Sikhs At Downing Street Today

[simran345]

Just wanted to say I'm proud of all those that went to Downing Street in London, in the protest, to hand the petition. well done to all.

[mala]

Shame that the maintstream media did not report on the demo..

Can someone enlighten me please..What actually happened at the demo, did our Sikh representatives get to meet the PM or enter No 10? Because from where I was all we seemed to have done was stood around, ate some langar, hear all these plump prabhandaks blow their own trumpets on stage and watch a Sikh Channel self promotion exercise taking place....

Apologies for my ignorance and annoyance but did we actually get a message to the UAE govt (as there is no media report on the demo whatsoever), any feedback about the 17 Sikhs?? I am not interested in any feedback on who came from where or how many coaches came down or Sikh channel direct debit forms...

[bikermanjit]

The turnout was at least better than the that of the Kamal Nath protest.

[Pyara]

Shows how influential a Sikh media TV channel is... I do agree with mala though...i sort of felt a lack of collective panthic focus on us being there and I certainly did not see any petition being distributed...just saw beant direct debit forms for Sikh Channel being given..and in a way I cant help thinking it might have ended up as more of a Sikh channel promotion excercise..I hope not!!!

We didnt make any press stories, not in India, not in Dubai and not in UK....again we keep screwing up on that...so lets wait and see if we helped the 17 Sikhs in Dubai...

[Into the Light]

The turnout was at least better than the that of the Kamal Nath protest.

Well i'm glad that there was a good turnout - roughly how many sangattan turned up?

[Pyara]

The turnout was at least better than the that of the Kamal Nath protest.

Well i'm glad that there was a good turnout - roughly how many sangattan turned up?

Around 3,000 I'd say... A good mix of elders, naujwaan, bibya and kids...From that perspective it was uplifting to see a diverse sangat turnout...

[simran345]

WEll we only heard of it on sikhchannel they had a live broadcast but no cameras which i thought thy would have, they had a live call in from downing street, apparently from wat we could hear that 5 sikhs handed in th petition to 10 downing street, and th turnout was good, like 2mile stretch, people were doing chaupai sahibji da path and simran, and u could hear it in th bakground.

But wish it had come on mainstream media, we were lookin on bbc or sky, and nothin, its funny how little things like billi nu kidnap karlea, £1000 reward, eh woh ajanda but they dont put anythin like this on th news.

[Into the Light]

The turnout was at least better than the that of the Kamal Nath protest.

Well i'm glad that there was a good turnout - roughly how many sangattan turned up?

Around 3,000 I'd say... A good mix of elders, naujwaan, bibya and kids...From that perspective it was uplifting to see a diverse sangat turnout...

Sikh Times seems to be reporting that 20,000 attended...i'm assuming that is a grosse exaggeration

http://www.emgonline.co.uk/news.php?news=9373

As Sikh Channel are able to reach Sikhs up and down the country like never before - i congratulate Sikh Channel for their efforts in help of the 17 Sikhs in Dubai.

Will Sikh Channel also be arranging protests for Gursikhs such as Prof Davinder Singh Bhullar and Jagtar Singh Hawara who are also on deathrow? Will Sikh Channel be putting the same effort in supporting the June rally that is in less than a month to ensure there is an even larger turnout?

[Pyara]

Sikh Times seems to be reporting that 20,000 attended...i'm assuming that is a grosse exaggeration

http://www.emgonline.co.uk/news.php?news=9373

As Sikh Channel are able to reach Sikhs up and down the country like never before - i congratulate Sikh Channel of their efforts in help of the 17 Sikhs in Dubai.

Will Sikh Channel also be arranging protests for Gursikhs such as Prof Davinder Singh Bhullar and Jagtar Singh Hawara who are also on deathrow? Will Sikh Channel be putting the same effort in supporting the June rally that is in less than a month to ensure there is an even larger turnout?

20,000? Why do our media find the need to exagerate...it only makes us look foolish..unless I missed an area of the demo where a futher 17,000 had gathered...

I too am hoping that this network formed by Sikh Channel will take on more issues and demos....time will tell us if this was simply a one-off self promotion exercise or a new wave!!

We can only hope that the 17 Sikhs & their families find out that we went down as a Jatha to Downing St and are trying to help them...therefore raising their spirits..I hope that news gets to them at the least

[punjab5]

Are the 17 in Dubai or Sharjah. If the latter, this is part of the UAE, as is Dubai (i.e. not part of Dubai but independant).

If in Sharjah, this is ruled by Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi of the Supreme Council of the UAE and Sheikh of Sharjah.

Letters or e-mails should be sent to the Sheikh. This shows Lack of research, but focus on getting 'balle balla''

Protest was good in that it got the Sikh togther, but campaigns have to based on actual facts and reserach done, so that a campaign strategy can be developed. Also one that is not in isolation to other campiagns for the same cause, i.e. In India for the 17 so that resources are pooled togther and coherent messages are communicated to the Media and other stakeholders.