Sikhs To Lobby For Greater Influence

[JagtarSinghKhalsa]

SIKHS TO LOBBY FOR GREATER INFLUENCE

10:40 - 26 October 2007

A Group of Sikhs from Bristol will be travelling to Parliament next week to demand more influence.There are about 700,000 Sikhs in Britain and about 8,000 in Bristol but they say not enough of them are in positions of power.

On Tuesday, about 300 Sikhs from across the country will meet with MPs and peers from the House of Lords to discuss these issues.

Leading the contingent of 15 Sikhs from Bristol will be Javinder Singh, 29, of Horfield.

He hopes to meet with a number of local MPs, including Stephen Williams, Kerry McCarthy, Doug Naysmith, Dawn Primarolo, Roger Berry and Steve Webb.

Mr Singh said: "There are a lot of misconceptions about Sikhs but especially about visible Sikhs, the ones who wear turbans.

"What we are calling for is our fair share of public roles and proper representation across public bodies.

"Other ethnic and religious groups, such as Hindus and Muslims, are gaining positions of power but Sikhs seem to be falling behind.

"You also do not see many Sikhs as television presenters, but we are the second largest ethnic group behind Muslims.

"I think the thing about Sikhs is that we are not as organised as other ethnic groups, so we have not put pressure on the Government to back us.

"We are very easy-going and sociable people and I am sure with more support we can break down the misconceptions about Sikhs."

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[Prem]

The last census showed that there were around 350,000 Sikhs in Britain. How can people like this Bristol Singh go around saying that there are 700,000 Sikhs in Britain and expect to be taken seriously? How can all of a sudden the Sikh population increase by 100%? Where were they hiding, underneath the beds or something?