Mass Sikh Lobby At The Houses Of Parliament, Westminster, London On 22Nd March 2011

[JagtarSinghKhalsa]

Mass Sikh Lobby at the Houses of Parliament, Westminster, London on 22nd March 2011

A Mass Sikh Lobby has been organised by the Sikh Federation (UK) and is being supported by the Sikh Council UK for Tuesday 22nd March 2011. This is a very important event in which Sikh representatives from all towns and cities are encouraged to attend.

It is best if each town organises a suitably sized delegation (it would be good to involve youngsters and women) to enable you to cover as many MPs as possible in your area. It is best to contact your MP via email or telephone as soon as possible and inform them of the lobby and ask them to make themselves available on 22 March.

You can ring 020 7219 3000 the Westminster switchboard at the Houses of Parliament, ask for your MP by name and they will put you through to the office of the MP and you will be able to talk to the MPs staff.

The venue will be the Houses of Parliament, Central Lobby between 10.30am and 12 noon. Assume it may take 30 minutes to get in. Sikhs in the South/Midlands should aim to arrive early, while those further North are expected to arrive later. During this time Sikhs will want to meet and lobby individual MPs. The media will be out in force to cover Sikhs entering Parliament.

From 12 noon to 2pm the All Party Parliamentary Group for UK Sikhs will host an event in the Attlee Suite, Portcullis House (the modern part of the Houses of Parliament) which can seat around 250 people. Various Ministers are being invited to attend and respond to the range of issues that Sikhs will wish to raise.

[Aman0001]

In light of what has taken place in the last couple of months (killing of Shaminder Singh by Punjab Police & the Sikh Genocide graves found in Haryana) this is the perfect platform for Sikhs to turn up in great numbers and be heard by prominent MP's from the British Parliment.

My benti to UK youths is, this is our chance to make a difference, if you care about what has happened in the last couple of months please turn up. Book your days off work now!!

[Aman0001]

I know that all of us have been pretty disgusted (to say the least) about the mass graves found in Punjab.

This lobby is an opportunity for us to communicate with the British Parliment. The media will also be there.

But how many of us have actually bothered to contact our local MP's to request they attend the lobby? And how many of us will bother to attend the lobby ourselves? Theres no point being depressed when atrocities happen and then sit back when an opportunity arises to do something about it.

[Aman0001]

The lobby will cover the following issues:-

1) Respect of the Sikh identity (Sikh turban within airports and right to Kirpan issues)

2) Continued human rights violations in India (Haryana mass grave, Shaminder Singh Shera etc)

3) Uk governments engagement with British Sikhs.

If you are concerned about the issues listed above, then here is your opportunity to discuss these issues with memebers of the UK parliment. Please attend the lobby to show your soladarity with your fellow Sikhs. We need to ensure that we can get a large number of youth to this event to show we mean business and to be taken seriously.

[Khalasthan86]

Which Media is covering this Lobby?

BBC / ITV / Sikh Channel / Sangat TV / Sikh TV

[JagtarSinghKhalsa]

Please find attached instructions for the Sikh Lobby on Tuesday 22 March at the Houses of Parliament between 10.30am-2pm.

You also have a copy of the briefing on the main issues and the actions we expect of MPs. Please email a copy of this briefing to your MP as soon as possible so they are prepared for the lobby. Ask your MP to exert pressure on the following to attend the event in the Attlee suite between 12 noon and 2pm on 22 March:

•Secretary of State for Transport, Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP

•Lord Coe as the Chair of LOCOG

•Andrew Stunnell OBE MP, Minister at DCLG

Please familiarise yourself with the briefing and come fully prepared for the lobby. Make sure everyone that comes to the lobby knows who their MP is. Use their postcode and the web site http://www.writetothem.com/ before you get to the Houses of Parliament to determine the name of your MP.

Instructions 220311.pdf

Briefing.pdf

[JagtarSinghKhalsa]

Letter to the Sikh Federation (UK) from Lord Sebastian Coe on the eve of the Sikh Lobby.

This confirms Amritdhari Sikhs will be allowed to wear their Kirpans to Olympic 2012 events.

We are however concerned with the imposition of a size limit of a 3 inch blade. As Sikhs we should not readily accept such limitations. However, the letter is a positive step forward and we will see what we can do to have the restriction on the 3 inch size removed.

This letter shows the importance of lobbying.

Lord Coe Ltr 180311.pdf

[Khalasthan86]

Sikh Federation is doing Amazing seva.

[Aman0001]

Free transport (coach) to Parliment from Leicester:-

Venue:

Guru Tegh Bahadhur Gurdwara

23 East Park Road

Leicester

LE5 4QD

Time: 6:30 am

Date: Tuesday 22nd March

[Aman0001]

Event taking place tomorrow.