Pathetic Youth Attendance During The Sikh Lobby Of The Uk Parliament

[Aman0001]

I just really got into Sikhi about 4-5 months ago. Within this period there have been a number of very high profile and hugely tragic events/discoveries that have taken place. These include:-

· Torture & and murder of Shaminder Singh (Shera) along with Sohanjit Singh.

· Mass graves found in Haryana & continued human rights violations in India.

· Sikh turban searches and removal in European airports.

All this happened in 2011!

I felt pretty impotent in terms of what I could really do in relation to the issues detailed above. Then my prayers were answered when I learnt that there was a UK Parliament Sikh Lobby initiated by the Sikh Federation and Sikh Council UK, which was going to discuss all the topics mentioned above. Finally we were going to discuss the issues that we cared about with government MP’s and ministers. Finally a chance to show that the Sikhs are not completely politically impotent at a grass roots level. I therefore decided to attend the event.

There was a coach going to the event from my hometown of Leicester. On the coach there was roughly 30 people. Out of the 30 I would say that 75% of the individuals could not even speak the English language and were over the age of 65. The others could speak English to varying degrees but were all generally older gentleman. I was the only youth on that coach (and by youth I mean under the age of 35).

I’m not knocking the older generation in any way, shape or form, because unlike the youth at least they attended. But I just assumed that individuals who attend lobbies will generally be the brightest and best from a certain community, or at very least be able to speak the English language and know about the issues in question.

When we got to the Attlee Suite, the same trends continued. Out of all the attendees, I would say that there was not more than a handful of youth. It was like sitting in an old peoples home. The vast majority of the people who attended could probably not even speak English.

So my question is, after the atrocities which occurred or were discovered in 2011 and all the media coverage of these events in Sikh Media, why can’t the UK Sikh youth be bothered to turn up to a very important government level communication event? Is no one bothered? I see thousands and thousands of very passionate and heartfelt words written about these atrocities on Sikh Sangat, but yet no troops on the ground willing to do anything about it.

[Singhstah]

Well it was on a weekday when most would either be at uni/college/work.

[Aman0001]

Well it was on a weekday when most would either be at uni/college/work.

Im sure your a nice enough guy, but I just couldnt fathom your reply, the excuse just beggers belief. I mean, have you not heard of taking a holiday from work or god forbid maybe miss a uni lesson. Or better still maybe the British Parliment should start functioning on weekends so that apathetic UK Sikh Youth could attend. I hope members of Shera's family or anybody related to the Haryana mass graves dont use Sikh Sangat as this excuse would probably be quite offensive.

[S1ngh]

Well Aman bro.. to tell you the truth.. we don't have much pro-active spirit and most of us don't give a hoot to go, stand up or speak up for our rights... We are being very selfish when it comes to help or work on something more in reality shape. True that youth are active on forums because they are in their comfort zone.. They don't want to make effort to go out organize and bring change in reality. There is no united platform nor anyone makes any effort to bring change in reality... It would be good for you if you find or create a local group of pro-active youth who are willing to travel, spend time out of their busy schedule to help out our community.

[chatanga]

unfortunately, i have said this for almost 5 years now, that the Sikh youths in the uk especially are failing to establish concrete roots in their local gurdwaras, or sikh political organisations. They have been accustomed to being footsoldiers only, although that is good, it is only a start. There is nothing wrong with being politically active, but younger Sikhs seem to find some kind of stigma attached to it.

Young Sikhs just dont have the impetus or inclination to do anything to bring awareness of Sikh issues outside of their own circle. This is so dissapointing and so dangerous for the future welfare of the panth. We already have very spiritually blunted Sikh generation, and we are finding that we have a very politically blunted generation as well.

The only time Sikhs do anything politically is in June, when we head down to london. What about the other 364 days of the year? Who talks about Khalistan in the Gurdwaras then? I hope that the Sikhs youths in UK will wake up soon and care about Guru's house, as much they care about their own.

[dalsingh101]

I might be wrong but this looks like a specific UK problem. America and Canada seem to have a noticeable politically conscious Sikh movements?

Or maybe it's just a case of the grass seems greener.....?

[HeatSikhingMissile]

All I've ever heard from this board was "we want quality not quantity" when discussing "who" is a Sikh. This mainly comes during a keshdhari/sehajdhari type topic/debate. Well if that's the stance then of course when Sikhs needs numbers they will always fall short since they've been busy excluding anyone who even remotely associates with the religon.

[dalsingh101]

All I've ever heard from this board was "we want quantity not quality" when discussing "who" is a Sikh. This mainly comes during a keshdhari/sehajdhari type topic/debate

Did you not mean this the other way round?

[Only five]

All I've ever heard from this board was "we want quantity not quality" when discussing "who" is a Sikh. This mainly comes during a keshdhari/sehajdhari type topic/debate. Well if that's the stance then of course when Sikhs needs numbers they will always fall short since they've been busy excluding anyone who even remotely associates with the religon.

I don't think you understand what is meant by quality. No one is perfect and everyone of us has made mistakes and in the future if Guru Sahib blesses us with Chardikala we can be fully devoted to Satguru ji. The group that yells for quality is wanting others and themselves to fall at the feet of Maharaj. They want unity in the Panth. If you listen to Sant ji's speeches he is calling those that cut their hair sheep, but it's not to insult them, but to wake them up from a deep sleep they have been in. The same is said to those that keep hair, but have fallen asleep aswell. Quality means to move the Panth forward in the right direction, where Gurmat is used to tackle issues. So the quality group is also for quantity, but want Gurmat methods used as the sword to bring peace in the Panth.

When you look at the quantity side, its drives on ego, where it's the person method taken as the way to drive the Panth forward. To this the quality side objects and says only the Guru's way should be used.

[dalsingh101]

A simple truth is, when it comes to politics in the west...quantity seems to matter most.

It's the nature of democracy.

Make of it what you will.