British Army Examines Plans To Create A Sikh Regiment

[Hammertime007]

I don't think sikh youth will be interested we would rather get an education then job or go in to business. I know some lads who do neither and spend alot of time training and even they wouldn't join up.

[DiscoverSikhism]

ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ ਜੀ ਕਾ ਖਾਲਸਾ, ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ ਜੀ ਕੀ ਫਤਿਹ

Sikhs make our Armed Forces even stronger

This is no throwback to Empire, but an example of clever innovation by a modern fighting force, writes Tom Tugendhat

Britain’s Armed Forces have always been a melting pot. Nelson defended our islands with ships crewed by Malays, Chinese, Irishmen, Indians, Americans, Scots, Welsh and, yes, Englishmen. Regiments of Sikhs, Pathans, Gurkhas and Africans served Britain in the First World War. In the Second, Poles and Czechs were among The Few leaving bases such as RAF West Malling to defend freedom from totalitarianism in the air.

These recruits didn’t change their names to escape past crimes. They were men and women who knew that serving under Britain’s colours was a noble calling. That is still true today. Gurkhas, West Indians, Fijians, and other Commonwealth citizens apply regularly to join the British Forces. We don’t press-gang men who failed school. Our soldiers, of every rank, regular and reserve, are seen for what they are: determined professionals who volunteer to serve.

Sikhs have a long tradition of serving the crown in Afghanistan. They stayed loyal during the Indian Mutiny then distinguished themselves in the Second and Third Afghan Wars. In 1897 at the Battle of Saragarhi, 21 Sikh soldiers died defending a British Army post against 10,000 Afghans. Ten Sikhs have won the Victoria Cross.

So I’m not surprised that Sikh leaders are keen for their young people to follow their grandfathers into the Armed Forces. Nor to hear that the Chief of the General Staff is considering creating a Sikh unit.

Through a shared history and culture, regiments sculpt men into fighting units as varied as a surgeon’s instruments. Serving on operations alongside Royal Marines, Paras, Guards, Yorks and many others, I’ve seen the different options their styles of soldiering offer a commander.

Adding to that range can only be welcome, particularly today. As Vladimir Putin is showing in Ukraine, integrating with local forces is a vital tool of war. His men are pretending to be Ukrainian rebels to conduct covert warfare. Such capabilities are as important for good as for ill. The same adaptive integration the Russians are showing in Donetsk is needed to build nations as well as undermine them.

In Afghanistan, we used local knowledge when we could. Pashto speakers, me included, spent hours sitting with villagers discussing the actions we should take. We invested heavily in relationships and did our best to change minds and outcomes without fighting. Among the best soldiers for this work were Gurkhas. Brought up on Bollywood movies, they could get by in the Urdu that acts as a common language for the region. Nepali villages weren’t so different from Afghan ones, giving the Gurkhas an understanding of the Afghans that Britain’s Xbox generation could never reach.

A Sikh officer of the Royal Navy, whose turban and gentle manner broke down barriers, gave us access to the wealth of knowledge contained in Lashkar Gah’s small but important Sikh community. For Britain, the global diaspora of Sikhs makes recruiting from the Gurdwara (temple) even more important. Wherever we go in the world, wherever we train or partner, there is likely to be a community of Sikhs.

Having the ability to interact with at least some of the population on equal terms gives a reach modern armies might otherwise struggle to achieve. Satellites, drones and night vision goggles alone can’t give the basic understanding required to rebuild a society.

Our British Army imam allowed us to talk to the religious authorities and show that we were not enemies of Islam. One British Muslim intelligence officer was unique. Having spent his gap year as a medical assistant to a Taliban group in the early Nineties, he understood how small groups of Pashtuns organised to fight. He would never tell me his nom de guerre, “in case I ever need it again,” he said.

Organising for future wars means rethinking our structures. The Army has brought together regulars and reserves into single formations, expanded intelligence units and is thinking hard about how we partner with friends and allies. A new Sikh unit could be a useful part of this mix.

This would not be the echo of a long-dead imperial past but an innovation worthy of a modern battle-ready army. Just as Irish, Scots, Welsh and English units attract men with regional affiliations, and sappers, signallers and logisticians draw men and women with specialist skills, a new Sikh unit would allow the common ethos essential to seeing strong fighting spirit develop.

Sectarian recruitment is inappropriate, but recruiting based on skills or to give cultural depth to a unit – infantry, engineers, or intelligence – seems entirely right.

This is, after all, what a regiment is all about – men of similar backgrounds serving together to create the ferocity and compassion required to build a combat unit.

Not all Sikh recruits would wish to join. Some might prefer the panache of the Guards, though that would mean swapping the bearskin for a turban, as at least one serving Scots Guard does. Others might prefer a specialist career in, say, the Army Air Corps. But for those young men who, like many other Britons, want challenge and a chance to serve their country, an infantry unit of like-minded British Sikhs would offer a home their grandfathers would recognise and welcome.

By Tom Tugendhat

6:20AM GMT 25 Feb 2015

Tom Tugendhat served as the military assistant to the Chief of the Defence Staff and is the Conservative candidate for Tonbridge and Malling

[Cisco_Singh]

It's all just hot air, with elections coming they're looking for votes.

Like Cameron recently visiting a Gurdwara all of a sudden. But doing nothing to useful for Sikhs while he's been in power.

covering up collusion in 1984 by commissioning a white washed internal enquiry..etc.

[JagsawSingh]

I spent the whole of this thread trying, to no avail, to explain to the 90% of posters here who were against the idea of having a Sikh Regiment that they (you) were playing right into the hands of your enemies. It was the Indians and Hindu nationalists in general that scuppered the idea last time around. This time around, judging by the comments here, Hinduvta fundamentalists don't need to do anything.....There is clearly a new generation of young UK Sikhs so silly and gullible they do the work of the anti-Sikh hinduvta brigade for them.

Anyway, it didn't take too long (only a week or so) for the Indians to start doing the same thing they did last time around. They, unlike most of you, realised then and realise again now, that a Sikh Regiment in the British Army will seriously damage India's claim to 'own' the Sikhs.

This, on another thread started today on SikhSangat, shows how the Indian PR machine against the Sikh Regiment has started in earnest:

http://www.sikhsangat.com/index.php?/topic/76725-india-getting-desperate-in-countering-impact-of-sikh-manifesto-sikh-federation-uk/

Hopefully, most of you here will now finally wake up, look to your side, and see who you were sleeping in bed with.

[StarStriker]

I spent the whole of this thread trying, to no avail, to explain to the 90% of posters here who were against the idea of having a Sikh Regiment that they (you) were playing right into the hands of your enemies. It was the Indians and Hindu nationalists in general that scuppered the idea last time around. This time around, judging by the comments here, Hinduvta fundamentalists don't need to do anything.....There is clearly a new generation of young UK Sikhs so silly and gullible they do the work of the anti-Sikh hinduvta brigade for them.

Anyway, it didn't take too long (only a week or so) for the Indians to start doing the same thing they did last time around. They, unlike most of you, realised then and realise again now, that a Sikh Regiment in the British Army will seriously damage India's claim to 'own' the Sikhs.

This, on another thread started today on SikhSangat, shows how the Indian PR machine against the Sikh Regiment has started in earnest:

http://www.sikhsangat.com/index.php?/topic/76725-india-getting-desperate-in-countering-impact-of-sikh-manifesto-sikh-federation-uk/

Hopefully, most of you here will now finally wake up, look to your side, and see who you were sleeping in bed with.

Gotta say jaggya, u played a blinder here.